Living Decay
by Master Tyrant 1
Summary: Nightmares are simply dreams that scare us. They are meant to stay in your mind for a short while then be forgotten. They are not meant to be real entities with their own sick, twisted desires. One such nightmare exists within young Naruto. It has a goal and Naruto just so happens to have suddenly become a apart of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Decaying Leaves**

 **Chapter 1**

 **This was just an idea I had swimming about in my noggin' don't know if I will continue it though. And the reason I don't put my stories in the cross-over sections is because; let's be honest with ourselves here, not many people go to that section.  
**

* * *

The Kage of every hidden village starred up at the massive spherical object in the sky. It was large enough to completely block out the moon and still fill what was left of the visible sky with a horrifying red hue.

The blond haired Hokage held a small bundle in his arms. Inside was a small newborn, peach skin, blond hair, tiny little whisker markings on the cheeks; needless to say, a pretty cute kid.

"Are you sure about this?" The Mizukage asked with a combination of great concern, but even greater urgency.

The Tsuchikage was in the middle of performing hand signs. "Who cares if he is or not. We don't have a choice. You saw what that thing did to the tailed beasts. This is the only choice we have." He and the other village leaders finished their preparations.

The Hokage looked down at the sleeping child; a single tear fell from his eye and landed on the boy's forehead. "I am so sorry." He whispered before placing the child gently on a flat, stone, alter. With a heavy sigh, the young adult went through his own hand signs just as a massive fleshy appendage tore it's way through the forest and made for the small group; it's intentions much worse then what could ever be humanly possible.

With the ceremony's preparations complete; a blinding white light erupted from the baby's stomach and the fleshy appendage was quickly absorbed into the light. Several others from the immediate surrounds were also sucked into the beam coming from the boy's stomach; all of them coming from the massive entity hanging in the night sky.

When all of the flesh tentacles were finally within the boy; the mass started to slowly sink down to the Earth below. A deafeningly low groan let nearly the entire nation know of the being's displeasure of the situation. The light coming out of the boy grew larger and larger until it completely enveloped the massive being and changed the red sky to to a brilliant white. A pure form that would be the last thing the monster from the sky would, hopefully, ever see for quiet some time.

The blinding light suddenly vanished along with the massive entity; the sky was once again dark and filled with the stars that have and always will be there. With the ritual complete an old man with long spiky white hair made his presence known by quickly leaping over to the stone structure and scooping the now crying child into his arms. Without say a word, the man left just as quickly as he had arrived. Leaving the boy there any longer would only create more problems.

Before completely leaving the clearing; Jiraiya looked back at the corpse of the now dead Hokage and let a heavy sigh escape his lips.

* * *

"The deed is done." The old sage said with a heavy heart as he entered the Hokage's office.

"I see." Sarutobi said while sitting in the chair that used to be occupied by someone so much younger than him just a few hours ago. It felt like it was only minutes ago that he was standing in front of the very desk he was sitting at and was seeing that too-happy a smile that blond man always flashed. It felt like only seconds ago that said blond man resigned as village leader and gave the position back to the older man; just so he could perform his duty as a soldier of the Hidden Leave Village.

"What do we do with him." The sage asked while holding out the once again sleeping baby. He was on no mood to deal with the child. Just looking at him brought back painful memories. It was almost a guarantee that Jiraiya was going to spend the next few months drowning his sorrow in booze and women; more so then usual.

"We will do as the last Hokage stated." The Hokage said while taking the baby and cradling him gently in his arms. He ooked down at his sleeping form and fought back tears. That man may be gone; but Sarutobi knew deep down in the smallest corner of his heart, that this small child would one day become something great. An amazing gift had just been given to him; it was up to the Hokage and the every single citizen of the village to insure that gift would be used in the pursuit of peace between the nations, not the dark horrors that could oh so easily be created from it.

"If he is anything like his father; that brat will probably want to become a ninja." The toad sage said while leaning his back against the desk; even the sight of the small bundle was too much for him.

"And if he is anything like his mother; there will be nothing either of us can do to stop him." Sarutobi said with a solemn smile.

"You know that seal will not hold forever." Jiraiya stated coldly. "That moron." He choked suddenly. "Coming up with something so complex so quickly." He bit his bottom lip hard to try and stop the inevitable. "If he had only put a little more time into it; it would be complete and would have worked." He slammed his fist into the desk hard enough to make his knuckles bleed. "You fucking idiot!" He shouted as tears streamed down his old and wrinkled face. "It was all a fucking waste you thrice damned moron!"

Sarutobi let the toad sage cry. There was no shame in it. No reason to reprimand the old man. To be honest, there really wasn't much keeping himself from breaking down right there. The probably that he refused to see as a problem; was that he would always get close to the ninja he lead, more so then the villagers just by proxy.

He would get to know them; there personalities, their dreams. Sarutobi would bond with them; bond too deeply. He would see them less as soldiers of the village, and more as his own children. Whenever he lost one of his own; the old man would take it hard, harder then most leaders ever would. But as the Hokage he had to remain strong, only letting his tears flow freely for a very short time before his duties forced his heart to harden once again.

But now, this very night; Sarutobi could not keep it in any longer. Loosing someone he considered a son, reinforced with all of the other children he lost this night; broke the man. He nearly collapsed into his arm chair before letting his own tears flow freely. The room was nearly silent with the silence only being broken by the odd hiccup or sob.

After a good long cry; Sarutobi looked down at the baby to see two large blue orbs staring back at him in confusion. A soft sad smile formed on his wrinkled lips as he held the child close.

"No matter what happens." He said gently to the baby. "I can guarantee that you will meet people that will see through what is inside you. You will face many, many hardships, but these people will be with you through the thick of it all. And you will become great as this village watches you grow. You will be protected by it's wall; and will grow to protect it as well." He said while standing up and walking over to the window. He pointed a finger out and the baby's eye followed and looked out at the peaceful village sprawled before him.

"But you must stay in the light." Sarutobi nearly begged. "You must fight the darkness as much as hard as you can, no matter how easy it will be to succumb to it." He looked down at the baby, still looking out the window.

"Can you promise me that?" He asked with a slight chuckle. "Can you promise me that, Naruto?"

* * *

For the next few years, the Hokage's words rang true. Naruto grew up in not the best conditions, but he powered through it. The nasty glares, the abusive words. He looked right past them with a massive goofy smile. He did as he was told by the Hokage; fought the darkness that would start to spread through his heart and force light to take it's place.

Both old men were right too; the young lad wanted to become a ninja. But not just any ninja; Naruto wanted to become the Hokage. To be recognized by the village and to protect the people that he held dear, even if it was only the old man at the ramen stand, his daughter and the old man Hokage.

The instant the little boy was old enough, he joined the ninja academy. The Hokage allowed it the instant Naruto asked, without a hint of hesitation. Sure a large number of villager and council members disagreed. But Sarutobi ruled with his heart, not just his head. He knew that what was sealed inside Naruto was dangerous; the only problem though was that he did not now how it would be or when the seal would become weak enough for it to finally have some sort of influence on the boy.

That was why he allowed to join the academy almost instantly. Naruto would interact with children his own age without parental interference, children that would not know what he had inside him. Sarutobi knew that some parents would tell their children to avoid the boy, but since when did kids actually listen to their parents?

Everyday after class, Naruto would rush over to the Hokage's tower and would barge into Sarutobi's office to tell the old man about his day; even if he was in the middle of an important meeting. It happened so often that many dignitaries and village representatives thought Naruto was actually Sarutobi's grandson. This would only bring a smile to the old man's face.

Naruto would confess to the pranks he would pull with the other school boys. Complain about all the icky girls and would even tell him about how great his teacher was. The Hokage knew that assigning Iruka to his class was a great idea.

Unfortunately, for Naruto; on the day of his graduation, something happened.

* * *

"Open your eyes." Iruka said; his joy forcing him past the pain he felt in his left shoulder. The fuuma shuriken that Mizuki had thrown really dug deep when it hit. Iruka knew he would be out of commission for a few days just from the amount of blood he had already lost.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see his smiling teacher. It took him a moment to see the goggles on the young man's head and another to realize his headband was wrapped around his own forehead.

Without saying a word, Naruto jumped onto Iruka and wrapped him up in a giant, back breaking hug all while laughing like an idiot.

"That hurts." Iruka laughed while hugging his favorite student back.

After the jubilation were finally over; the two walked over to Mizuki's limp form, the other ninja that Sarutobi had sent after Naruto were finally starting to arrive. The old man himself included.

Seeing Mizuki's form and the headband on Naruto's head told enough of the story that he needed, but he felt like making Naruto's day even better. "What happened here?" He asked in full Hokage mode.

Before either could say anything; Sarutobi held a hand up for silence. "I want you to give me a report in my office as soon as we get everything cleared up here." He said looking directly at Naruto, who was looking pretty darn confused. "What is the problem? You are a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves correct?"

Naruto stood tall with a smile and gave a salute before quickly relaxing and letting loose a chuckle when he saw the old man smile.

"What should we do with him?" Inuzuka Tsume asked while tapping Mizuki's unconscious body with her foot.

"What we always do to traitors." Nara Shikaku said in a very uncharacteristic tone while pulling out a simple kunai knife. He looked over at the Hokage, who gave a nod.

All watch as the blade was driven directly into the traitor's chest. Shikaku quickly applied more pressure to insure that the heart had been penetrated. He then tore the headband off of the dead man's body before breaking the metal plate in half and tossing it back onto the corpse.

Iruka knew that usually it was the one that fought a traitor to have the honor of ending their life; but forcing Naruto to kill while being watched in such a way would probably not have been a good idea in any way. Yes, he was now an officially trained assassin, but that did not mean that he had to be forced to enjoy killing.

With the deed done; everyone prepared to go back to their every day lives. Or they would have if Mizuki's body had not suddenly begun to start convulsing wildly.

Iruka instinctively drew a weapon with his uninjured arm while standing in between Naruto and the twitching corpse.

As his corpse convulsed, the skin start to peel back and become flayed. Hair was sucked into his skull as the bones his feet fused together and lengthed become long and misshapen with each having a different number of different length toes. The heel bone became a small peg-like extension running almost parallel to the deformed feet

His body arched upwards as his neck was stretched to the point of the skin tearing free from the shoulders. His mouth ripped open into a frozen hollow scream as his arms slowly migrated to his rib cage, becoming thin and spindly and were absorbed up to the elbow inside him. With a horrible ripping sound; two extra arms suddenly burst out of the back of the corpse's shoulders; each with a hand frozen open with a a massively large blades of bone protruding from the palm of each.

His torso become incredibly thin as his organs were quickly deconstructed and reformed into pure muscle while being moved to the arms and legs. The muscle tissue of his face was completely exposed with his bottom jaw broken completely in two.

The body suddenly stopped moving and laid completely motionless for a moment.

"Wh-" Yamanaka Inoichi began when the creature that was once Mizuki suddenly sprang to life and quickly got to it's feet in a horrifying and sporadic manner. Everyone jumped back and prepared for a fight.

The creature looked over at the group of ninja while gurgling. It's hunched form causing it's horrific design to look that much more terrifying. It then looked to it's other side and saw Iruka standing in front of Naruto.

With a loud, gurgling roar, the creature charged forward towards the instructor with a surprising amount of speed. It's disfigured feet carrying its heavy from with incredible ease while the monster swung it's scythe-like blades back and forth.

Without missing a beat, the jonin quickly threw their respective weapons to halt the creature. Only for it to completely ignore the bladed weapons piercing it's body. They clearly impacted it's form, but the creature showed absolutely no concern and continued it's charge.

Sarutobi was in the middle of making a few hand signs when the creature finally approached Iruka, blades drawn back and ready to kill.

Naruto looked on in fear. Everything happened so fast that he hadn't realized just how injured Iruka was. The monster would easily kill him in his current state. So Naruto did the one thing he could do. He shoved his beloved teacher out of the way and prepared to be cut apart with a look of pure determination etched onto his young face.

Both of the monster's blade came down at the boy. The Hokage just finished the seals and was about to perform his technique. Unfortunately it would be too late. Or so he thought.

The blades of the creature came to a complete stop mere millimeters away from the young boy's face. Naruto looked up at the creature with complete shock. Not missing a beat, the monster quickly turned from Naruto and prepared to swipe at Iruka once again.

"Stop!" Naruto shouted before jumping in front of the attack once again. And, just like before, the creature halted it's attack before making contact with Naruto.

Seeing that the man with the scar on his nose was not an easy target; the monster turned it's attention to the next closest target. Old man Hokage.

"I said stop!" Naruto shouted right as the creature made for the Hokage.

To everyone's surprise; the creature came to a complete halt. It stopped moving all together with only the low gurgling coming from it's throat and the odd twitch to help keep it standing on it's disfigured feet.

Everyone else had stopped moving too, waiting for the beast to attack once again. Only, it did not. It did nothing but stand there. It's frozen face betrayed no visible signs of emotion. It was almost as id the thing had completely forgotten everyone was standing there and was just existing as it was.

Naruto blinked and suddenly thousands of images flashed before his mind. Words, images, songs, emotions; all suddenly invaded his brain. Vast skylines and dark cramped corridors of steel. Icy landscapes and arid deserts. Peace and chaos. Light and dark. Night and day. It was almost like he was recieving memories from countless other entities. But there was always one thing in common with every single image.

Death. Blood. Corpses. Bodies horribly broken and mutilated. Bodies twisting, fusing, forming into terrifying abominations with no other purpose but to kill. To kill everything living. To make more of themselves.

"Make us whole." He mouthed wordlessly as he looked up to see the other ninja slowly get closer to the creature.

"What happened to Mizuki." Inoichi wondered out loud.

"It was me." Naruto spoke; away from the crowd. His facial expression was one of shock and terror as the ninja turned their attention to the boy.

He suddenly grasped his head in pain as more images and sounds flashed through his mind.

"Well then, what is it?" Tsume asked while poking at the nearly motionless monster with a very long stick.

Still holding his head; Naruto responded. "The beginning. But also the end." He threw his head back as the pain in it grew stronger.

Sarutobi quickly dashed to the lady and gripped his jacket; tearing it open. The seal on the boy's belly was changing. Alien symbols replaced certain parts while the spiral was able to remain.

The creature that had been sealed inside so many years ago had finally gained an understanding of it's cage. And was not going to remain quiet any longer.

After a moment or two, Naruto let go of his head and stared forward. "I know what I can do." He stated.

"I can bring back the dead." He looked over at the creature, then to everyone else. "I have a lot to tell you." He told the Hokage, his voice had trouble hiding the childlike glee he had.

Sarutobi sent a quick glance to everyone else who promptly left with such speed that Naruto wasn't even sure they had moved at all. Now it was just him, the Hokage, and the creature.

"Explain." Sarutobi said in, what Naruto called, his 'Hokage-voice'.

Naruto cleared his throat and stood the same way Iruka did when preparing to give a lesson. "Whatever is sealed inside me has shown me a lot of things. Most of which are just plain weird and make no sense, but do tell a story of what it is and an do."

Naruto placed a hand on his own chest. "According to this thing. I am something called a 'Marker' a statue that is able to create a field that can reaimate the dead into things like that thing there." He pointed to the still standing monster.

"Why?" Sarutobi asked.

"I don't know. It just does. I just do. I have that field. It's permanent, and there is nothing I can do to remove it. So anything that is around me that is dead will change into something like that monster. But because I have the creator of them inside me; I can control them."

"What are they for? What do they do?" Sarutobi was now much more invested in Naruto's words. While still horrible to think of his children turning into grotesque monster; the thought of a never ending and undying army would mean that the village would no longer ever be at risk.

"Make more." Naruto stated with a more terror stricken look. "They exist only to make more of themselves."

"So." Sarutobi said with a sigh. "They are made from corpses and they live to reproduce, using corpses."

"Yeah." Naruto said with a slow nod. "They were made specifically to kill and make more. One makes a corpse, it comes back as another, both kill; more and more die and with every dingle death. A new one is created."

"That is less then happy news." Sarutobi stated.

"But I can control them." Naruto stated again in a very rushed manner. He was trying to hide it, but Naruto was scared of his new abilities. Not just because he was now a living nightmare factory, but also of how everyone around him would react. The thought of his few friends suddenly being too scared to be around him hurt the boy like nothing ever had before. He could not imagine what a real example would feel like.

"Watch." He then looked at the monster. "Move closer."

The creature looked at him for a moment before taking a few very wide steps to be closer to the boy. When it was just a step away, the creature stopped and went stayed still.

"See." Naruto said while looking at the old Hokage with unbridled hope in his large blue eyes. "I can make sure that they aren't dangerous to the village." He looked down. "Please don't kill me." He whimpered in a terrifying display of weakness.

Sarutobi was taken back by Naruto's words and bent down to be at eye level with the boy. "Why in the world would I have you killed, Naruto? Yes, your new power is terrifying and could lead to terrible, terrible things." He gently held the boy's shoulders. "But I have seen you grow. I have seen what kind of person you are and the kind of man you will grow into. I know you can control this power and keep the village safe."

He looked up at the moon and let out a sigh. "Why don't you head home." He gave Naruto a smile. "Try to avoid the seedier parts of the city on the way. The less undead you make, the better. For now. At least until we can determine what will happen to them."

The old man looked at the standing monster. "What to do with it now?"

"I think I'll call this kind: a Slasher." Naruto said with pride.

Sarutobi gave the lad a blank stare.

"You know. Cuz of it's blades? It slashes." He tried to explain while embarrassed. He coughed before speaking again. "It has to be within close distance to more or else I can't control it that well. The further this things get, the harder it is to directly control them and prevent them from making more of themselves."

"Have it stay with you then." Sarutobi ordered. "Think of it as a guard for your home.

"But what about tomorrow? I have to go to the academy to meet my future sensei.

"We can't risk it going out of control. You'll just have to bring it with you." The Hokage stated.

Naruto nodded in understanding and looked up at the Slasher. The creature appeared to pay the boy no mind at all. "Follow me." Naruto ordered before waving bye to the old man and making his way home.

The creature followed. Walking appeared to not be a natural thing for it as it had to swing it's long arms above itself to counterbalance it's own weight with every step.

Naruto was very careful as he walked home. He was very happy that it was so late; meant he'd encounter almost nobody that wasn't a ninja. Unfortunately, however, his companion did not make the walk an easy one.

Every single time it would notice something living; be it a cat, a mouse, or anything else, it would growl and attempt to kill it. Forcing Naruto to order it to stop every single time.

"There has got to be an easier way of doing this." He mumbled to himself while physically holding onto a piece of torn cloth still attached to the Slasher.

Eventually the pair made it to Naruto's apartment. The creature stood in the middle of the living room and stood still. Naruto watched it for a moment before finally going to the bathroom and taking a shower.

When he got out, the monster was still standing there. No signs of having moved or anything. Naruto sat down on his old couch after getting his nightwear own and gave the Slasher a nice hard look.

The monster showed no sign of even being slightly aware of Naruto's look. "No killing." He said. The creature looked at him. "No wandering away." The monster continued to give the boy the same frozen look. "Follow every order I give."

With that, he stood up and went straight to bed. It had been a long day and he was more then ready for it to be over.

As he laid in his small bed; Naruto could hear the low gurgles his horrific creation made as well as the occasional step it would take to keep itself balanced. Naruto sighed as he ran scenario after scenario through his mind of how tomorrow would go.

He rolled over and looked at the headband Iruka had given him. He really would rather keep it then be forced to give it back and get a new one. Maybe he could work something out.

With that thought on his mind, Naruto finally allowed sleep to claim him.

Now, you would think, with Naruto asleep that the monster in his home would go on a rampage. But that was not the case.

It had no real mind, or at least not one that humans could fully understand. It wanted, no needed, to kill. To make more of it's kind. So that it could finally be made complete with it's Marker. It's living Marker. Something that had never happened in the eons that it's kind had existed.

A normal Marker only gave two orders. Kill and converge. That was all it's kind knew. That is all they were for. But this living Marker gave other orders. Orders that completely defied their kind's very genetic programming. The signal to kill was still being broadcasted from the living body, but the same body demanded the creature not to kill.

Confusion. That was the only thing the creature felt. It would comply with both orders. While defying them both.

In the very early hours of the night. A new signal was suddenly being broadcasted from the living Marker's form. Protect. Defend. Insure the safety of the living Marker above all else. Any hostile actions must be met with death. The creature and it's future kind will obey.

* * *

Naruto woke up with a throbbing headache. All through his sleep, the boy was tormented with the same flashing images and words. But with odd symbols added to the mix just to make things interesting.

He slowly climbed out of bed and got dressed and ready for his last official day the ninja training academy. He opened his bedroom door to see the Slasher still standing there. He quickly got dressed and hesitantly opened his front door.

When he stepped outside, the monster followed. Surprising Naruto since the boy had not given it the order to follow him.

It was much harder for the young ninja to hide the creature this time around. He was forced to push it into an alley at least a half dozen times just out of straight paranoia about it being seen.

He somehow made it to the academy without getting seen and was even so early that no one had really shown up yet. He and the Slasher ran to Iruka's class room; which was thankfully still empty and closed the door behind them so fast that the sound of it slamming echoed through the academy halls.

He quickly fell into a seat at the very back of the class; the Slasher stood at the very front of the classroom. Naruto stared hard at the monster once again; thinking hard.

"How am I going to hide you?" He asked allowed, even though he knew the creature could not respond. Only, to the Uzumaki's surprise, it did. The creature looked around the room a bit before noticing a loose ceiling panel. It stumbled over until it was directly underneath it. The Slasher bent it's knees before jumping straight up into the panel, pushing it aside and clambering up into the roof.

Naruto could hear the sounds of it's claws and raw flesh scraping against wood as it crawled over until it was directly above him. The room fell silent with only the very muffled sounds of the Slasher's growls and gurgles being barely audible.

Naruto was impressed with what the monster had done, but was still nervous about it being caught in a room full of ninja. But then again, they were trained on how to detect _living_ bodies, not the dead.

Eventually, the other students started to arrive and either take their seats or stand around and chat. Naruto focused on every single student that walked in; checking for any sign that they might be even the smallest bit alerted to the Slasher's presence.

Fortunately he saw none.

"Isn't that Naruto sitting next to your seat?" Ino teased Hinata when the two plus Sakura walked into the classroom.

"I winder what he's doing there." Sakura said while gently elbowing Hinata's side. "He looks so lonely up there. Maybe someone should go keep him some company." She chided her friend.

"I think I will." Ino said while puffing her chest out before taking a step in the boy's direction. A hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned her head to see a pair of icy cold eyes glaring at her through midnight blue bangs.

"No." Was the only thing Hinata said before stepping past the blond girl and walking up to where Naruto was sitting.

Hinata was a kind person. Always has been and always will be. Just as long as no body does anything to Naruto. She stuck her claim on the boy since day one of the academy and every single girl knew it. If any even showed the slightest interest in the boy, the young Hyuga would quickly set them straight with a few choice words.

Hinata remembered very vividly Naruto saved her from some bullies. She remembered him being beaten just to protect her. His look of initial determination and his expressions of pain forever etched in her young mind. She hated that pained expression of his. She hated it more then anything else.

As she was hauled away by her caretakers back home; the young Hyuga watched the little limping Naruto give her his famous smile. From that day forward, Hinata swore to herself that she would be the person he could depend on. She would be the one to hold him straight on his path and prevent him from wandering.

As she grew through the years; her initially shy personality changed. She was still the same kind girl and she had refused to take up the snobbish rich personality the rest of her family seemed to have. She had grown more confident her own abilities and was more then able to stand up for herself and what she believed to be right.

It also did not hurt that she developed an interest in the male anatomy too. More specifically Naruto's. And more of an interest then most would think healthy.

"Naruto?" She said as she approached the boy's seat. He did not show any sign of hearing the girl.

"Naruto?" She repeated herself. Again, no reaction. His eyes continued to flicker from student to student all the utmost focus drawn on his face. Hinata looked back at her friends, who were both giving big thumbs up at the girl.

A thought ran through the young Hyuga's mind and a terrifyingly wicked expression slowly drew across her face. With a bit of focus and chakra, the veins around Hinata's eyes became enlarged and visible as her bloodline ability; the Byakugan was activated.

Her expression became more and more perverse as she stared directly at Naruto for quiet a while.

"Wow," Sakura said, impressed. "She's doing that here?"

"The girl knows what she wants." Ino said with a chuckle. "I wonder what his looks like."

Sakura just raised an eyebrow before taking a small red book out and began to read.

"Naruto. Are you there?" Hinata asked while getting closer to the boy and deactivating her x-ray eyes.

"Wha?" He nearly shouted while almost falling out of his seat. "Oh," He said while holding his chest; his racing heart trying to calm itself. "It's you Hinata." He flashed her the smile the girl fell in love with. "What do ya' need?"

"Well." She looked away with a slight blush. "I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind if I sat down."

"Of course not." He said with a smile; completely forgetting about the monster hanging just a few feet above his head.

"Do you have any idea who you will be paired up with?" Hinata asked the blond while taking her seat.

"For what?" He asked in honest confusion.

 _'Oh Naruto.'_ Hinata mentally sighed. "We are being put into teams of three today and being assigned our jonin instructors."

"Oh yeah. I knew that." He crossed his arms. "I was just making sure you knew." He lied.

Hinata just gave smile while looking like she did not believe a word he said. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no. Nothing at all. Why do you ask?" He asked while trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.

Hinata gave the boy a look. "Are you trying to hide something from me Naruto?" She asked in a tone not unlike a knowing mother.

"N-no." He stuttered while trying to smile his way out of the situation.

Hinata leaned in a bit closer to the boy. "You know you can't hide anything from a Hyuga, Naruto. If you tell me, I'll treat you to something nice." She looked directly into his eyes. A bit of red showed on her normally pristine face. She was trying really hard to insinuate at least a few things to the boy in a desperate attempt to have him notice her feelings and desires.

No luck though.

"You don't play fair." He pouted at his friend. He looked around to make sure no one was listening before blocking the view of his mouth with his hand. "I promise to tell you later. But you have to promise not to freak out too badly." He whispered.

"I promise." Hinata responded. She knew Naruto was thinking he would get a free meal of his favorite Ichiraku ramen. However, the young Hyuga had much more adult things in mind. She let out a single perverse giggle before looking forward at the sound of Iruka walking into the classroom.

Everyone took their seat and the room fell mostly silent.

"Today." Iruka started. "Is the very last day that you all will be my students..." And he went off on a lecture-like speech that started to bore the class. "...Today you will receive your teams and instructors. Today will be the last day you all will be children. Today will be the day you all become ninja!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Shikamaru, Ino, Choji." Iruka called the first group. "Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

The instructor continued down the class names until the sounds of several people approaching the class reached his ears. He stopped and looked at the classroom door just as it slide open.

In rolled a wheelchair-bound man dressed in exquisite robes while a small platoon of five privately contracted ninja stood around him and a young female nurse pushing the man's wheelchair. They all walked into the classroom without saying a word.

"May I help you?" Iruka asked while crossing his arms over his chest. he was not a fan of people imposing their power over his lessons. Or lectures.

"I am here under official business of the daimyo of the Land of Fire." The well dressed man declared in a pompous tone of voice. He did not even try to hide a satisfied grin as the children in the room began to murmur his title about.

Naruto had a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his gut as he allowed his eyes to wander upwards. They grew as he saw the ceiling panels move as his monster moved to be over the new arrivals. The boy never ordered the creature to not kill any newcomers to the village.

"And what business is that?" Iruka asked in a false humble manner. This man was infamous through the the land for attempting to use the daimyo's name in order to get things he desired. Him being here was basically a sign that everyone was going to have a bad day.

If only they knew.

"I am here to stop the Uzumaki from become a full fledged ninja." He stated in his most royal tone of voice. "I feel that it is within the best interest of the entire country that the boy remain a civilian. At least then he can not do any harm. Considering what he is."

"You are not to speak of that." Iruka whispered through gritted teeth.

"I supersede your little Hokage's laws." He stated while puffing his chest out. "I can do as I please. I can demand the boy killed if I so desired. Just be glad that I am letting him live as a civilian and not as a prisoner."

"Naruto?" Hinata whispered as she looked over at the boy next to her. Said blond was holding his head as a distraught look glared down at the desk in front of him.

Everything he had worked for was suddenly being taken away from him. All those years of training himself to pure exhaustion. The blood and sweat he poured was now all going to go to waste. He knew he could argue and try to fight against the order all he wanted. But would instantly become an enemy of the state; as did nearly everyone that refused the daimyo's second in command.

Unfortunately for everyone, the entity within Naruto's body did not like the idea of being so far from death. Without the dead, it would not be made whole. Without it's creations, it would forever remain incomplete. And it was _not_ having that. Who was this man to defy it?

Naruto's look of desperation changed to one of pain as his left eye started to hurt. The pain became so bad that he had to grip his face with his hand as visible tears started to form in both eyes.

"Now now." The wealthy official said in an almost humorous tone. "You still get to live. And you can still contribute to your little village by working in some street stall or something." He offered in false consideration.

Hinata glared at the man while placing a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder. It was only when the tears in the boy's left eye were replaced with streams of blood that she actually said anything. "Are you alright?!" She shouted; grabbing everyone's attention who was not earlier.

"It hurts." Naruto whimpered as more and more blood trailed down his cheek. "What's happening?"

Iruka was instantly by his favorite student's side. "Naruto?"

The boy let out a whimper as images flashed through his mind once more. When the flashing pictures stopped, so did the pain.

"Don't look." He said out loud. Not in a tone one would used in embarrassed at being seen crying, but one of great warning.

"There is no shame in a non-ninja crying." The wheelchaired man said.

Naruto took his hand away from his eye while closing his right one. Instead of the bright sea of blue Hinata had gotten lost in countless times; dark red was instead. Infact, the entire eyes was a completely solid shade of dark red with visible difference in the pupil, iris, or sclera. The eye appeared to have the texture of rough stone as light red symbols flashed through it repeatedly.

"I can be a ninja." Naruto announced in complete confidence. "I will become the Hokage of this village. And to do that I must become a ninja.

"Are you disobeying a direct order from me, boy?" The man was almost laughing, he loved to punish those that defied his will. Of course in the best interest of the daimyo and the country.

"Let me show you." Naruto said coldly before looking directly at one of the hired ninja directly in the eye. Anyone that noticed quickly looked at the targeted man.

At first the man just looked around at everyone looking at him. "Nice eye kid but I'm a genjutsu master." He boasted. "Not even the sharingan can work on me." He drew his sword all while chuckling. "Whatever tricks a little academy student could ever come up with; I'll counter them easily."

The man stood there chuckling a bit. Then a bit more. Then even more until it turned into full blown laughter. Then that laugh grew even more until it was completely out of control cackling.

"I understand now." He laughed before looking at his group. "I can see the truth." He giggled. "We are all a part of it. We are all one. But we are separate." He suddenly swung his weapon at one of his fellow ninja.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?!" The offended man shouted. "Snap out of it." He performed the standard release sign to end genjutsu, but to no effect.

"Nothing is wrong." The man stated in a calm cackle as he twirled his weapon about. "And silly things like that won't work. I'm not under some trick. I have been enlightened. I can see what our true purpose is." He looked back at Naruto; smiling crazily while gripping his sword with both hands and pointing it directly at his gut.

His allies tried to stop him. "End it!" One shouted at Naruto. The boy did not respond.

"I know our purpose!" The man shouted loudly. "To make us whole." He ended in a whisper before impaling himself through the gut with his weapon. He quickly pulled it out before plunging the sword back in, over and over, all while cackling madly.

"Make us whole!" He shouted. "Make us whole! Make us whole!" He continued to stab himself over and over until he finally collapsed and could no longer hold his weapon or speak.

"I did not mean for it to go that far." Naruto said in complete shock. He had to blink several times to get his eye back to normal.

"Your a monster!" The wheelchaired man shouted before demanding that another of his subordinated attack the boy. Two of the other ninja picked up their fallen comrade; still just barely clinging to life. "As the advisor of the diamyo of the Land of Fire; I sentence Uzumaki Naruto, to death!"

"Please don't!" Naruto shouted; fear dripping from his voice. Something no one had heard before. "It won't let you!"

"Save it brat." The approaching killer demanded while brandishing his own sword.

Iruka could not do a thing. There was no point in him trying to protect the boy. It would only lead to both of their death's; even it Iruka some how bout Naruto enough time to escape, he would be on the run for the rest of his life. His dream long shattered and any desire for happiness gone. All the teacher could do was watch as the assassin approached the desk.

"No!" Hinata shouted while standing and hold her arms out to shield Naruto. She stood between him and the would-be-killer with a determined glare in her dull eyes. She swore to herself years ago that nobody was going to ever hurt Naruto. Nobody.

"As the heiress to the Hyuga clan of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. I, Huyga Hinata, demand that you leave Uzumaki Naruto alone." She spoke in a tone no one had ever heard from her. The level of authority within her soft voice would have humbled the most stubborn of fools. Unfortunately, the man was a much bigger fool then that.

"Are you defying me will as well, young Hyuga?" The wealthy figure asked, mirth still lacing his voice. "If your not careful, I'll just have you killed along with the freak."

Hinata shot a glare at the man before turning her eyes back towards her enemy. A sudden pair of hands on her shoulders caught the girl by surprise as she was suddenly pulled back just as the ceiling panel above her broke and a large mass his the floor directly where she had been standing.

Th Slasher had moved back to it's master's location after noticing the danger coming to the boy. The combined order to protect and kill being so strong that it could not resist anymore and had made itself known. It unfortunately missed the smaller target by it's master's own unreasonable actions; but would make do with the soon to be fresh corpse standing in front if it. All it needed was the final order.

"It won't let you." Naruto repeated solemnly. "Just please leave." He pleaded.

"You really are a monster." The rich man stated while pointing at the boy accusingly. "Kill him and that...thing immediately!"

The ninja made to swipe at the creature only for it to effortlessly block it with a blade of it's own. But the creature did not capitalize on the vulnerability of it's target. It had not been ordered to kill yet. It wanted that order. It needed that order.

"Please just leave!" Naruto shouted. He didn't want these people to die. Sure they were trying to take away the one thing he has always wanted, but death was not necessary to keep his dream alive.

"Stop!" Iruka shouted in his most authoritative voice possible. His eyes glared daggers at the daimyo's second for a moment before speaking up. "As you can clearly see, Uzumaki Naruto possesses amazing abilities that would be squandered away should he be forced into civilian life." He explained in a hard tone. He motioned for Naruto to recall his beast and the demon begrudgingly pushed the attacking man back.

The teacher then clasped his hands together in an almost devious. "Now I wonder what the daimyo would say if he heard that his most trusted political assistant tried to weaken his army."

"That's true." Sakura decided to speak up. "Without having such a powerful ninja at his disposal, the daimyo would be significantly weaker should any of our enemy's were to attack." She said in a know-it-all fashion. "And to think, it would be all your fault should this country fall just because you didn't like some kid."

Murmuring started like a wave through the class. Most of it pertaining to how pathetic and pitiful the man was.

Seeing as how it would be a bad idea to try and assert his authority any further; the second to the daimyo gave a low growl. "Fine!" He shouted, silencing the room once again. "The brat can be a ninja." He looked up at the monster standing at the back of the class and smirked. If he couldn't stop the boy from joining the village's military force, then he could at least emotionally devastate him. "But only if that...thing, is killed." He could not even hope to try and hide his wicked grin.

Iruka gave Naruto a pitied look only to notice complete and total lack of concern in on the boy's face. Sure the monster was terrifying and desired to slaughter everything that had a pulse, but Naruto had made it and _must_ have bonded with it some what within the few hours they had spent together.

Naruto looked up at the monster's face. The Slasher showed no expression beyond the frozen anger it always had. Naruto closed his eyes in a manner that showed begrudging acceptance.

The daimyo's second in command grin grew even more before he raised a hand. "Kill it." He ordered with more joy then he ever should. He always won.

But before the order could be put through, the man was interrupted by one of the contracted ninja.

"Come on." The man begged as he shook the one that had nearly taken his own life. "Talk to me man!" He shook him more. "You can't die on me."

"Just leave him!" The wealthy man shouted.

"But he's-"

"I said leave him. Everyone here is a ninja and knows the risks. Let his body remain as a warning to those that can't handle the job." His head snapped back to the monster. "Now kill it! Now!" He nearly slammed his fist into the arm of his wheelchair. He was tired of his will being denied. He was going to win, one way or another.

"With pleasure." The would be killer smirked before pointing the tip of his blade right where the monster's heart would be. If not for the already visible wound that originally allowed for the creature's birth. With a swiftness that would only come with years of experience; the blade was driven deep into the Slasher's chest. The sound of tearing flesh and breaking bone filled the now silent room as the creature made now outward sign to even noticing the attack.

The man violently yanked out the sword; which caused completely dry and coagulated blood to fly from the new wound. The monster just stood there for a moment.

Naruto furrowed his brow slightly before the Slasher's body went completely limp and it fell to the floor in a heap. Naruto could feel both Hinata and Iruka gently grab his shoulders as signs of support. Neither having any idea of what really happened.

"Very good." The second in command said with a satisfied smile. "We are leaving." He ordered. His obviously shaken nurse slowly wheeled him out of the room along with the rest of his living ninja. The dead one was left, propped up against the wall next to the door.

Not a word was said as the sounds of squeaking wheels and hard footsteps slowly faded away.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, great concern evident in her eyes.

"You can stop now." Naruto said in an almost amused tone of voice. Almost instantly, the Slasher slinked back to it's feet and stood as if nothing had happened.

"Wha-wha?" Nearly everyone reacted in shock.

Naruto tried not to chuckle. "Yeah. Long story." He slapped the Slasher on the back in a way a friend would. "But it'll take a lot more then that to kill this guy."

Before anyone else could even utter a word; Iruka slapped his hands again. "Well, since that is over with; shall we continue with team assignments?"

Sakura's hand shot up so fast that it looked like it would have caught fire.

"If you have any questions for Naruto, then wait until after you meet your instructor." Iruka said without even looking in the general direction of the pink-haired girl.

And with that, everyone sat back down and listened as Iruka called out the teams.

Hinata was both impressed and deeply concerned with the boy sitting next to her. A lot had just happened for her to swallow. First, Naruto expressed an eye based kekkei genkai that she had never even heard about. From what she just witnessed, it both hurt Naruto greatly to use it as well as apparently who ever looked directly into the changed eye into complete and total insanity. And from the corpse that was still in the room had shown, drive the person to suicide.

Secondly, was the obvious monster now standing behind the boy. It listened to Naruto. But was obviously made for combat, seen by the fact that it had been hiding in the ceiling for who knows how long and the large blades in possessed.

But none of that mattered. He was still hers and getting to know his strength and abilities was all a part of obtaining his love. She would show him that she was strong too. He might be distracted by his newfound abilities, but Hinata was confident that she would be able to make him notice her one way or another. Maybe she should try that sexy technique he had used on Iruka. It might make her appear older. She wondered if she'd fill out more.

All while Iruka called names, the Slasher stared at the corpse in the room. A potential brother was so close. Another member to assist in making more. But, something was wrong. The body should have already turned into it's proper form. It looked down at it's master. The focused expression on his face; as well as the lack of the proper broadcast signal told the monster all it needed to know. Except for why.

Why did it's creator prevent such a necessary thing from happening? Why would the Marker prevent more guards for it's protection from coming into being? The Slasher looked at the body with a little more focus. Nothing was wrong with the body. It was completely organic, dead, the last few living cells slowly dying away. The wound the corpse had made while alive and useless was not too great for it to require other parts to be made into something offensively useful.

But there was something missing. There was no mass anywhere around the creature or it's master. None of the necessary wall flesh that allowed it's kind to thrive longer. That must be why the Marker did not want the body to change yet. It wanted the place where it would temporarily become comatose to be where the growth should begin.

Seeing the master preoccupied with unnecessary matters; the Slasher decided to volunteer itself for transporting the corpse to the location for conversion. But it had to received the order to do so.

So it nudged Naruto with one of it's arms. He did not notice. So the Slasher did it again.

"Naruto." Hinata whispered. "I think your...friend wants something."

Naruto snapped out of his focus before looking at the girl, then up to the Slasher. The creature looked Naruto directly in the eye. Several images flashed through the boy's mind.

"Fine, fine." He said with a wave of the hand. "Take it." He looked back to the front of the class. "But return as soon as the job is done." He honestly did not want to have to deal with what was going to happen. But it would be better then having two of the things following him around.

The Slasher started to slowly shamble down to the body. The students that sat near the aisle of the class tried to move a little bit further away as the mosnter walked past them.

Iruka tried to ignore it as the monster finally made it's way to the body. It looked at the corpse for a moment before slamming one it's blades into the body and starting to drag it behind it as it walked over to the window.

The Slasher hunched over slightly before jumping through the glass and out of the classroom.

Iruka gave an annoyed glare at Naruto.

"Hey!" The boy shouted defensively. "How was I supposed to know it would do that? I thought it knew how to use door." He crossed his arms and huffed.

* * *

An hour or two later and Naruto and his two teammates were now the only one's left in the room. Iruka left just a moment ago to deal with his own life and stuff.

Sasuke sat in his usual seat, thinking. What Naruto had shown was very interesting to the boy. Especially what his eye had done. A bloodline ability that could drive a sane soldier into committing suicide without even touching them or using any hand signs? Not even the sharingan had that much power.

"So spill." Sakura said while sliding into the seat next to Naruto with such speed that she almost crashed into the boy.

"About what?" The blond asked in honest confusion.

"Everything!" Sakura shouted in excitement. If there was thing to know about Sakura, besides her beyond human strength, was her thirst for knowledge. Hell, her idols were the ultra strong Tsunade and the super intelligent Orochimaru of the Sannin. Both were away for their own personal reasons; but word was the Lady Orochimaru was returning for some unknown reason. Sakura was ecstatic at having even the smallest chance to met one of her idols.

"Your eye, what your looking for in a woman, that monster! Everything."

"What was that middle part?"

"Your eye?"

Naruto stared at Sakura for a moment before the sound of crashing glass alerted the young ninja to the return of the Slasher. Naruto glared at the beast as it walked to it's normal position near the boy.

Sakura had not taken her emerald eyes off the boy for a moment.

"Um..." Naruto tried to think of something to say when the door suddenly opened.

"So your my team of cute little genin huh?" Said a gray haired jonin. One of his eyes was covered by his forehead protector.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Naruto asked as he looked hard at the man. He mentally thanked the man for saving him from Sakura's prying mind.

"You might." The man looked at all three of his students plus the monster. "I want you all to meet me on the roof. Now." He vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Well this is going to be interesting." Sasuke grumbled as he got out of his seat.

The three plus the beast all arrived to the roof of the academy and saw their new jonin instructor sitting and reading a bright red book.

"Ah." He said while snapping the book shut. "I'm glad to see you all made it. I was worried that you'd all loose your way."

"Good to know your confident in us." Sakura replied sarcastically as she and her teammates sat down in front of the jonin.

"All joking aside." The man started. "Since we are going to be spending a lot of time together, it would be best that we get to know one another. I want you all to tell us a little bit about yourselves. Things along the lines of likes, dislikes, dreams, and what you feel like your good at in regards to being an actual ninja." His one eye glanced over all three of his students.

"I'll go first." He cleared his throat." My name is Hatake Kakashi. I am a jonin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I like a few things-"

"Like astonishingly good literature." Sakura interrupted while holding the same exact book Kakashi had a short while ago.

"The man looked at the girl with a very approving glance before continuing further. " I dislike a lot of things. My dreams are none of your business and I specialize in fighting my enemies."

The three genin all had the same deadpan expression written across their collective faces. Even the Slasher appeared to be somewhat annoyed by the man.

"Little miss interrupty. Your next."

Sakura stood up like as if she was in class and dusted her battle dress off before speaking. "I am the beautiful and talented Haruno Sakura." She announced proudly. "I like studying and learning many new things, especially things that can help the village and my allies against whatever enemies we may face. I dislike secrets and having things held against me." She shot Naruto a deathly glare for a moment. "My dream is too become as powerful as all of the Sannin combined." She stomped her foot to emphasize her point, causing large cracks to appear on the academy roof. "My specialty would have to be." She thought for a moment. "My awesome strength and my knowledge of a lot of things; including some very good techniques."

"...Ok." Kakashi hesitated to speak. This girl was clearly just as strong and smart as she believed she was. He had better watch himself less he instigate her wrath and risk becoming a bloody smear on the streets.

"Short, dark and dead inside." He gestured towards Sasuke.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. I like training to become stronger. I dislike my training being interrupted My dream is to personally see that a certain someone dies. My specialty is my families fighting style and techniques."

"Have you unlocked it yet?" Kakashi asked while looking directly into the boy's eyes.

Sasuke looked away while scowling coldly.

"I see." The jonin sighed. He would have to work alone with the boy at some point to help him unlock the hidden potential of his family.

"Finally, you with the blond hair and nightmare beast." Kakashi pointed at Naruto. "And do please explain everything." He said in an almost exasperated tone. The look Sakura was giving the boy was terrifying the man and he wanted it to go away.

Naruto sighed before standing up. "I am Uzumaki Naruto. I like Old Man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, Hinata, Kiba, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji..." He went off listing a few people. "...and Sakura." He ended with a very large semi-happy/semi-pleading smile. "I dislike those that judge others for things that are beyond their control." He looked down for a moment, his happy demeanor completely changing to a much more solemn and depressed one. "And the thought of succumbing and becoming something I fear." He shuddered before shaking his head.

"I would have to say my specialty is this." He formed a hand sign and, in a poof of smoke was suddenly replaced with a young adult female version of himself; completely naked. "Or this." The feminine voiced Naruto was once again enveloped into smoke, and was this time replaced with a more adult looking version of Naruto. This too was completely naked.

The sound of something screeching brought everyone's attention to Sakura. The massive pink hearts in her eyes as well as the blood dripping from her nose told everyone what her mind was going through.

"Haha." Naruto laughed before poofing back to normal. "That's the first time I did that one. I think it works." He chuckled." Those are my sexy techniques he stated proudly. "Made them myself.

"Please be serious." Kakashi said while tapping Naruto's head with his book.

Naruto chuckled a bit before getting back to business. "I don't really think I have anything I specialize in." He sighed. "Unless you mean what I discovered I can do."

"Like your eye." Sakura quickly said while shaking out of her stupor. Kakashi raised one of his eye brows.

"Yeah. It's something that just, happened. When that man said he would fore me into civilian life; I didn't like it. I didn't like it all. But I think something else didn't like it either. I felt...something being upset, very upset. Then my eye started to hurt. Then it changed into whatever it changed into. All I could see out of that eye were flashing symbols, everything was red, and red vein thingies that were shaped like people. Standing and sitting where everyone was at during the whole thing. I remember staring directly into the man's eye." Naruto stopped to think for a moment.

"I felt like I was doing something to him. Like I was putting things into little empty spots in his head or something."

"What things?" Kakashi was leaning forward, very focused on his new student's words. This was something very important, a potentially new kekkei genkai in the village and it was one of his students. That would mean it was up to him to help teach and learn with the boy as his unique power and abilities grew.

"Pictures, words, voices. Things like that. But a lot of them. Almost too many; I felt like I was cramming them into the empty parts of his mind. Like I was trying to fill them up so much that nothing else would be able to fit."

"I think I get it." Sakura said while in a thinking pose. She looked at Naruto with a knowing and friendly smile. "You removed the man's ability to think properly, whatever things you sent into that man's mind; he was forced to see and hear. He couldn't mentally block it out and it must have driven him insane."

Naruto did not look happy with Sakura's words. Not with what she said, but the fact that they were true. Yes, as a ninja he was trained to kill. But there was just something about forcing someone to end their own life that did not sit well with the boy.

"That's an impressive ability Naruto." Kakashi tried to ease the mental burden upon his student. "You would be able to do wonders in hostage situations and delicate missions with the ability to drive the enemy mad."

The jonin looked at the beast still standing behind the boy. "Now about that?"

Once again, Naruto gave a regretful sigh. "Well." He held a hand out. "I want everyone to official meet, Mizuki-sensei."

Instead of shock, everyone just looked confused.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but Mizuki betrayed the village. He was killed last night." Sakura stated.

Naruto nodded. "He did, then he became this. It's something I can do. To the dead. I can bring them back, changed. There is something that wants me to. It needs me to bring the dead back as monsters." He clenched his hands tightly while refusing to look at the people around him. "They only exist to kill. To make more of themselves. That is all they do. That is all they are for. To kill."

He had to take a breath to calm himself. "But, I can control them, there is something about me that lets me prevent them from mindlessly killing everything around. But I can't stop anything dead from changing. That man that died earlier; I had to focus everything I had to prevent him from changing right then and there."

Everyone was silent for a while. What felt like just a few seconds felt like years to the Uzumaki. This was his team; the people he was supposed to trust his very life with. They could easily just leave him to die during any mission outside the village and no one would even know.

"Interesting." Sakura said while slowly walking around the Slasher. "So this used to be Mizuki-sensei?" She looked at every detail of the creature. "Reshaped bones. Increased muscle from what looks to be altered organs." She looked directly at Naruto. "He was dead when this happened?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment before nodding slowly.

"That probably means that most of his organs don't even exist anymore." Sasuke mumbled.

"Would explain why that sword did not appear to do much to it." Sakura said while looking through the still open wound said weapon had created.

Naruto was in complete shock. He had expected revulsion and disgust from his team upon the discovery of what his creation really was. Not curiosity. The boy looked at Kakashi with total bewilderment.

"What were you expecting to happen?" The jonin shrugged.

An arm around Naruto's shoulder pulled him into a tight side hug with the female of the team. "Did you expect me to react in any other way then curiosity?" Sakura asked while her grip on Naruto increased; crushing Naruto very tightly against her. "Did you honestly expect that I would scream and call you a monster or something?"

Seeing the veins starting to appear on the pink haired girl's forehead, Naruto quickly replied with a series of 'no's' and apologies.

"Do you have any control in what bodies become what?" Kakashi asked while standing up.

Naruto shook his head. "No. That is all based on the condition of the body, the number of bodies and the environment." He gestured to the Slasher. "This is just a basic form. An average body that can survive and kill in nearly any condition. Not really a specialist in anything, but a good start to creating more bodies."

The jonin gently placed a hand on Naruto's head. "I'm sure you probably heard this before, but this ability is astounding and you should not fear it. This power could do so much good for the village. An army that always rises from defeat can never truly be vanquished."

Naruto looked up at the man. "But is it worth it to see your friends and loved ones twisted into such horrible shapes? To see them lose whatever humanity they had?"

"If they are truly dead upon becoming one of your creations; then their humanity had already left them. Their souls already departed for the afterlife. To use their fallen forms to protect the people and the village they love. I think that they would be happy to know that even past death they can still save their home." Kakashi said in a calm voice while patting Naruto's head in a patronizing manner.

"Well, if that is everything." Kakashi started while pulling out his favorite book. "Then I guess that is all for today. I want you all to meet me bright and early tomorrow at training ground number seven. I've got a special training exercise for you cute little kids." He quickly glanced at the group. "I'd tell you not to yet before hand, but I got a feeling none of you would listen to me."

"Of course." Sakura agreed.

* * *

"Are you alright, Hinata?" Shino asked his new teammate while the team did some basic exercises. Nothing too extreme, just enough for their instructor; Kurenai Yuhi, to gauged their physical conditions.

"Yes, why do you ask?" The Hyuga asked while doing squats.

"Because you look like your about to rip apart the nearest chipmunk that looks at you wrong." Kiba joked as he and his pup, Akamaru did push-ups.

Hinata did not want to admit just how close to correct her new teammate was. The young girl was livid. She had tried her hardest to get onto the same team as Naruto, but her spot was taken by that kind bitch, Sakura. Yes, the two were friends, but Hinata knew deep down that her pink haired chum wanted naruto just as much as the Hyuga did.

Sure, Sakura claimed to be completely supportive of Hinata's desire for the blond and she showed no outward sign of any real attraction; Hinata could see it. No one can hide anything from a Hyuga, and that included that pink headed genius. Her ever so subtle changes in movement and voice pattern where clear enough indicators to Hinata that Sakura pleasured herself to the image of the boy just as much as the village princess.

"I am not going to loose to you." Hinata growled at the mental image of her close friend as she exercised.


	3. Chapter 3

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

"What taking that man so long?" Sakura grumbled as she flipped through a page in her book. The girl looked over at her other teammates. Sasuke was sitting there, brooding as always and Naruto looked to be about to ask his monster to help end his incredible boredom. The three of them arrived at training grounds numbers seven at the time specified by their jonin instructor.

"It's been over two hours." Naruto whined as he walked back and forth. "He had better have the best training methods ever after all this waiting. Or a mission that will make us heroes to the village"

Sakura did not respond, but her thoughts were right along side the blond's. She could be researching new techniques right now instead of wasting her time sitting around doing nothing.

"Why hello there my cute little students." Kakashi's voice suddenly rang out as a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the three genin. His expression was of one trying to play innocent to a crime they knew they had committed. An odd one eyed smile that one would be able to tell without being able to see either his other eye or his mouth.

"Your late." Naruto tried to remain calm, lest his creation try to kill his new teacher. "Very late."

"Yeah, sorry about that." He lied to blatantly that a newborn would have been able to known the falsehood of his words. "You see i got lost while trying to help and old-"

"Save it." Sakura interrupted while snapping her book shut with a little more force then necessary. She got to her feet and slammed a fist into her palm, the force of the act caused small cracks to form under her feet. "Let's get started already."

Sasuke glanced at his teacher before looking at each of his teammates. He hated being forced in a team. He hated that it was with people he had no real concern for. He would have much rather have had a personal private tutor that would help him obtain his goals. But taking into consideration Kakashi's reputation as well as what was hidden behind his headband, Sasuke would begrudgingly accept the situation forced upon him. He'd just have to find a way to get more private training somehow.

"Good to see that your all ready to get started." Kakashi said, still smiling. He pulled out two small bells from within his tool pouch and held them up for all to see. "These are bells."

"Clearly." Sakura replied bluntly.

Kakashi gave the girl a look before continuing. "Today's training is going to be special; and it involves these bells." He clipped both bells to his belt.

"Let me guess. We have to somehow take them from you?" Sakura asked.

"Can't you let someone else speak?" Kakashi asked in a dead tone. Sakura gave a cheeky wink in response.

"Either way. She is right, but only partially." He leaned back and crossed his arms as he explained the rules of the training. You all know them and I'm not going to waste precious time retyping what you all have either seen or read.

Kakashi raised his hand high into the air. He looked at each of his students faces. "Begin." The instant his hand dropped, all three genin leapt away into the surrounding forest.

 _'Good start.'_ The masked jonin thought as he pulled out his favorite book. He glanced over to see the Slasher standing there as if nothing was going on. _'Going to have to remember to keep an eye on him.'_ He began to read.

Sakura was quick in finding her other teammates. "You all know what this really is right?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded sadly. "No matter who wins, someone has to loose." He just found people that were accepting of his new terrifying abilities and he was either about to loose one, or all of them just because their new instructor was an asshole.

"Win-win for some of use." Sasuke mumbled. Naruto sent the Uchiha a nasty glare when a hand grabbed his face and forced him to look back at Sakura.

The pink-haired girl really did not need her teammates fighting each when their failure would mean being sent back to the academy. Someone of her intellect would not do going back to a room full of little brats.

"Your both wrong." Shea stated harshly. "If either of you had a lick of common sense between the two of you, then you would have noticed what this is really about."

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your an idiot." Sasuke explained bluntly.

"Both of you shut it and just follow what I tell you." Sakura said. "I can guarantee that none of use fail this little test. Have I ever been wrong?" She asked with a wink.

Naruto nodded while Sasuke showed no sign of responding in any way.

"Now Naruto." Sakura began. "Do you have any new friends that can distract Kakashi?"

"Sorry. All I got is the Slasher you've seen already." He thought for a moment. "I know of a kind I could make if we had siblings and at least two dogs."

Sakura sat and thought for a moment before looking at Sasuke. "I want you to run distraction duty while me and Naruto find what he needs."

"Are you sure Sakura? Shouldn't we be using our own skills and abilities to pass this test?" Naruto asked honestly.

"That is exactly what we are doing." The pink haired girl said with a smile. "My intelligence is making this plan. Sasuke's family style of fighting will require Kakashi to focus more on him while you make and control your monsters. If we work together, we can win this easily."

She looked back at Sasuke. "Or is the great Uchiha afraid of going against the infamous copy ninja of the Hidden Leave?" She goaded the young boy.

Sasuke frowned. He did not like being used in such a way. But with the other two gone, he would be able to get at least some private training from someone that shared the same gift as him.

"Your plan had better work." He grumbled before leaping off to start his part of the plan.

"Ok." Sakura watched the boy leave before looking back at Naruto. "Let's go find the parts to make some monsters."

To say it was gruesome work would not be an entire lie. They did not have to kill anyone, nor have to harm any animals. The two first went to the Inuzuka compound and quickly sneaked into the veterinary office. They hurriedly found the area where the family would temporarily store the bodies of recently deceased canines and took the parts that they needed.

Naruto was focused both on the task at hand as well as suppressing his transforming field signal. Having studied and having accepted what beeing a ninja really meant; what she and Naruto were doing did not bother the young Haruno as much as it would most other people. Yes, it was dirty work that she would rather not do. But it was a necessary evil if it meant that they would be able to better protect the village and achieve their own goals.

After obtaining the canine parts; the pair went to the village's massive hospital. There were bound to be some dead twins in there; as morbid a thought as that may be.

Being the ninja they were; both were able to sneak into the morgue with relative ease. Whatever was inside Naruto felt great excitement. Naruto could feel it. The being wanted all of the bodies within the morgue. It wanted all of them to be made into the useful being's it required.

Naruto did his best to ignore it while suppressing the transformation field even more so; just in case his guest made any attempt to override his own control.

It took the pair a little while, but flipping through a few files and checking a few body tags, they were able to find a pair of twin sisters that had recently passed do to extreme injured received from an out-of-village mission.

Both Naruto and Sakura gave a short prayer for the two sister before snatching up the bodies and hauling them out of the hospital.

The two had to be incredibly careful not to be seen carrying corpses through the village. It would not do either very good if they were to be caught and their careers put even more in jeopardy then they already were.

"We just stole corpses from our own village hospital." Naruto said as the two returned to their hiding spot within the training ground. It was only now as they dropped the dead remains on the ground that Naruto really had a second to think about what they had just done.

"Hey now." Sakura interrupted his morbid thinking. "Don't start thinking that we are in the wrong here. We are doing this for the sake of the village. It is better that they are still of use becoming one of your creatures then rotting in the ground." She tried to somewhat comfort the boy.

Naruto gave a nod before finally letting the transformation field do what it did best.

The bodies were far enough away from each other so as not to fuse into one form; that was not what Naruto needed right now. They were also placed within the thickest part of the wood possible so that they would become exactly what he needed them to be.

The feet of the corpses where the first to change. All but two toes melted into each foot; allowing for more material to extend the feet out and elongating the two remain toes into long spike-like talons. The legs became much more muscular as the organs of the corpses were converted into muscle tissue. The arms became long and lanky; with three long talons ending in sharpened tips on each end reforming from the original human appendages. These hand were not made for slashing, but were better suited for impaling and rending whatever victim was within their grasp.

The ribcage of the bodies was torn wide open as the material from the sternum was altered and relocated to other parts of the body. This exposed the non-existent innards of the being and showed the increase in musculature around the back and newly exposed spinal area. The increase in musculature as well as bone matter reinforced the creature spine column and neck while also forcing them into a semi-hunched over posture. Most all of the muscle and fatty tissue within the breasts was converted and moved to other parts of the body; leaving the them as nothing more then vestigial identifiers what they used to be. Of course with the open ribcage and everything else, not many people would notice the small remnants of a secondary sexual characteristic.

Finally, the canine remains fused with the heads of the human corpses; form the most distinguishing feature of the new monster. A massive, eyeless, three-pronged head with only traces of original human bone structure. The skull was largely exposed, sporting a thick cap covered in bony protrusions to aid in crushing and bashing. The upper jaw and nasal cavities were left largely intact, while the cranial dome was squashed down to provide a more even, durable striking surface, which was further supported by the cheek bones. The lack of skin and the complete exposure of the teeth made the creature a very disturbing sight.

After the transformations had finished; the creatures rose to their feet and turned to Naruto's direction.

"These are what you were talking about?" Sakura asked. "What makes them so special?"

"You'll see." Naruto said with a smile. "Let's head back and let Sasuke rest a bit." The two ninja start to run in that direction and were instantly caught by surprise at the speed and maneuverability of the two new monsters. They were easily able to keep up with the two ninja and even ran in a similar fashion; with arms tucked in behind as they ran leaning forward to make their forms more streamlined and smaller a target.

They all made it to the clearing where Kakashi and Sasuke were actively engaged in combat and quickly leapt up into the trees. Or at least Sasuke appeared to be; Kakashi was still reading his book.

"Good, good." He said. "Your power is impressive, but your still too slow." he stated while easily blocking a series of blows from the visibly tired and worn Uchiha.

Sakura pulled out a small mirror from within her own pouch and used it to send Sasuke a signal to return. The boy did hesitantly. He was finally getting at least some of the training he had desired, but his damn teammates just had to come along and ruin it.

"What now?" He whispered while wiping away some sweat.

"My turn." Naruto said before looking down at his creations. The two beasts looked up at him before both running in opposite direction.

His teammates looked at him in confusion.

"Just watch." He looked at the Slasher and sent a signal for it as well. It stood as motionless as ever.

All three watched in silence as the monsters went to work.

 _'What are they planning?'_ Kakashi thought as he continued to read. So far, he had only seen Sasuke make an attempt for the bells; and it was not really so much as an attempt for the bells as it was just fighting out right. The jonin did see the flashing from the mirror that called Sasuke back, so it was obvious that the three were doing what the jonin had wanted all along. They were clearly communicating with one another and working together to find some way to get the bells.

Suddenly, a loud, distressed series of honking cries rang out from within the forest. Forcing Kakashi to look away form his book. A short distance away, one of Naruto's beasts was dragging it's leg while making the awful sound. It appeared to be making it's way through the trees and continued to make the loud distressed call even after noticing Kakashi staring at it.

The jonin at first thought that that the creature had just recently gotten hurt from failing whatever plan his students were trying to come up with. But something just did not feel right. The monster did not ever come out of the treeline, nor did it try to go deeper into the woods. It just continued through the forest while almost deliberately making sure that Kakashi could see it move.

Another thought ran through Kakashi's mind however. Maybe the creature actually was hurt, but Naruto could not hear it. Knowing how the few clans within the village bonded with their beastly companions; it would not be too far off to say that Naruto possibly had done the same and would be very upset at discovering that one of his monsters was hurt.

Now the jonin was feeling a bit conflicted. Was this a trap, or was the creature actually hurt? If he went over, he could potentially be opening himself up to an ambush. If he stood there, he would potentially anger and loose trust in a very promising student.

A new, loud honking alarm like cry suddenly forced the man from his thoughts. He frantically searched the area for the source of the noise only to hear stomping from directly behind him. He turned just in time to see another of the same kind of monster charging right at him. Arms tucked in behind and head down low.

He barely had time to register the creature before it slammed it's blunt skull square into his chest. The force behind it was astonishing as it sent the trained jonin backward and onto the ground. Kakashi quickly leapt up and saw the fleeting image of the feature running for the forest just as another loud alarming cry screeched through the area.

The first monster was now charging at man. But this time he was ready. Or so he thought as two large blades suddenly crossed in front of his chest and he felt a cold body press itself against his back. He had completely forgotten about the Slasher and now was paying for it as the monster held him in place; it being much stronger then him in nearly every physical way.

The other creature slammed into the pair; knocking the Slasher away and forcing Kakashi to the ground once again. But instead of running away, this one stood over the jonin and quickly grabbed his arm and held him down.

Using his other hand, Kakashi quickly replaced himself with a log and appeared behind the creature only to have it quickly run away with surprising speed. This time several loud screams echoed through the area and the jonin noticed several of the monsters running towards him. Again, before he could react one of them came up from behind and slammed into his back, forcing him forward and into the swinging skull of another while two more grabed his arms and forced him down to the ground.

The jonin struggled and noticed a third standing over him. It reached down and clumsily pulled the bells from the jonin's belt. It looked at them for a moment before poofing into a cloud of smoke and revealing Sakura standing where once stood. The other two holding the man down did the same, revealing the boys of the group.

"Looks like we win." Sakura said cheerfully while tossing the bells up and down.

The boy's let Kakashi go and allowed him to get to his feet. "That was impressive."

"I know." Sakura said smugly. She was practically vibrating with the desire to explain it all to the teacher.

"Fine." He sighed. "Tell me how you were able to out wit me."

"It was very easy to be honest." She said, again smugly. "Me and Naruto left to go make those things." She pointed to the creatures that were making their way form the forest to Naruto's side. They would occasionally make small clicks and rumbles to each other. "While having Sasuke distract you long enough for you to think that we were still here."

She crossed her arms. "See? Simple. The rest is kinda Naruto's doing though. He was the one that came up with the creatures as well as the idea to make ourselves look like them."

Naruto's face brightened a bit at the praise. He was more than willing to accept any praise no matter where it came from. But hearing it from the pink haired genius of the village was a privilege few could ever dream to have.

"Those are some amazing monsters you have there, Naruto." Kakashi said as he looked the beasts over.

"I know." He said while placing a hand gently on one of the creature's back. Unlike the Slasher; which would not have reacted at all, the creature actually leaned into the touch and gave a satisfied gurgling sound. "I think I'll call them...Stalkers."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the name. "Why that name?"

"Cuz that's what they do best." Naruto began. "These are perfectly designed to attack in groups and in heavily wooded or densely packed areas. They are made from both human siblings and parts of dogs. Along with having actual brains that allow them to work together and think about how to take down targets. They use distraction tactics and, as you saw, try to trick their prey into letting down their guard before overwhelming them." He rubbed the creatures back slightly. "These are the smartest things I can actually create, I think. But they require more then just two to really work effectively; so I had the Slasher hold you and act as a distraction while the three of us henge into their appearance, got into position, and pretended to be them so we could catch by surprise and snag the bells."

"I forgot all about that first monster." Kakashi admitted. "It's hard to detect the dead."

"Exactly." Naruto stated proudly.

"You did very well." Kakashi said proudly. "You all passed with flying colors. As you probably all figured out by now, this was a test about teamwork, working together with each others different set of skills and abilities and coming up with solutions to different problems." He started to lecture in a fashion almost like Iruka. "In your careers, you will be forced to work with people whose abilities you have no idea about and with people you may dislike heavily; but putting differences aside and using each others abilities effectively is what makes the Hidden Leave the most powerful village of the many nations that make up our world."

Naruto looked dead bored from the explanation. Sasuke looked completely unconcerned. And Sakura went back to reading her own book.

Kakashi sighed before turning his attention to Sasuke. "Our little scuffle was good. Gave me an idea of our skill level and how I can help improve them. We will work on unlocking your clan's ability and and helping you overcome the weaknesses that come along with it."

He looked at Sakura, who looked directly back at him. They both looked at each other. "You keep doing what you have been." He said quickly. Sakura nodded before returning to her book.

Finally, the jonin looked at Naruto and saw that his two beasts were nuzzling him in affectionate manners. The differences between them and the Slasher were like night and day. Then again, the Slasher was designed to be foot soldier, cannon fodder that did not require more then just basic thought to get the task done. The Stalkers required for more intelligence to work together for their goals; intelligence begets emotion and that can lead to affection. Rather quickly too as they appeared to have bonded with Naruto quiet well.

"Now you." He said, getting the boy's attention. "I'll help you in anyway I can, but I don't know a single thing about what you can do. Luckily, the Hokage has requested that someone come to the village that might help."

Naruto's face instantly glowed with excitement. Getting private training from someone the Hokage specifically asked for was calls for excitement as well as pride.

"Let's get started." Kakashi said. And so began Team Sevens training for the day. Improving upon the skills they has well as attempting to better those that needed it. Learning how to better themselves both in and out of combat as well as getting to know one another every possible chance.

The day came to a close and they all said their goodbyes for the day before going off on their own and heading off to home for some much needed bed and rest.

Except Naruto. He had decided to send the Slasher home. It was best designed to guard his home and so would stay there permanently as his own personal security system. It's lack of any real thought made the boy not really feel too bad about leaving it there since it did not feel anything to begin with. The two Stalkers however, stayed with him and acted as bodyguards for the boy. Sure they creeped out the villagers but as long as they did nothing to him, then everything was fine.

There was just something about the two creatures that Naruto liked. The images and voices he had received from the entity within him had shown all of its creations as nothing more then completely mindless killing machines with their only desiring being the killing and propagation of their own kind. Even the more intelligent creations only used the increased brain power to either alter themselves or their surroundings to make killing easier for them.

But these two Stalkers actually showed some sort of affection for Naruto. Rubbing against him. Making pleased noises when he gave them attention. He doubted that the protection signal that his guest broadcasted was causing this; and the confusion he could feel the being radiate confirmed his thoughts. Maybe the person coming to assist in his training would be able to figure something out.

Making a few turns down a street or two, Naruto arrived at his favorite restaurant; the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. He was about to push aside the curtains and take a seat when a familiar voice called out his name.

The boy turned to see a worn looking Hinata walking towards him.

"Hi Hinata." Naruto said enthusiastically. His demeanor already bringing a soft smile to Hinata's young face. She was happy he that he was in a better mood then when she last saw him yesterday. He appeared to have accepted his new abilities, whatever they may be, and was no longer feeling dejected and scared.

"Come have a seat. I got tons to tell ya'." He said excitedly. Hinata knew her father would not approve of her staying out too much later, but she had other things to on her mind.

The two took their seats and began to chat about their first day of official ninja training. Naruto explained his new powers and the special training he was so proud to soon be receiving. But before any of that, he had to calm his two Stalkers down when Hinata got a little two close for their comfort. Unlike the Slasher, Naruto was forced to verbally tell them or else they would not react. The creatures appeared to actually be ignoring the signals the creature inside him was broadcasting. This obviously did not make the being happy in the slightest.

The two Stalkers took a strange sitting position as their master ate and talked. Never taking their eyeless eye sockets off the girl that was still too close to him for their comfort. They would occasionally click at one another.

Hinata did her best to ignore the eyeless glares while listening to the boy sitting next to her. She also slowly looked the boy over as he ate. She checked for even the smallest sign that her pink haired friend had not made any attempt at him in their short time together.

"...which kinda' sucked ass." Naruto complained about something his instructor had done. Hinata only really heard half of what he had said; too focused on her personal mission.

"Don't worry." She said almost too silently to hear. "You'll be licking mine soon enough."

"Did you say something?" Naruto asked. He could have sworn something inappropriate just came from the mouth of the princess of the Hyuga clan.

"I was just saying how irresponsible it is for your new instructor to be so late." She said quickly before drinking some of the broth in front of her. She heard a few clicks from the creatures behind Naruto and sent them a confused glare before smiling at Naruto.

They ate in silence before Hinata spoke up again. "You said that you can turn any dead matter, right?"

Naruto nodded while slurping up a mouthful of noodles.

"Then why doesn't the garbage and things like food change?" She asked honestly.

Naruto swallowed his food and Hinata watched as several drops trailed down from in between his lips and down his chin and neck. She had to bite her tongue not to lick her own lips.

"I don't really know. It could be that whatever inside me doesn't think it would be a good idea to unleash all of that at once and risk the village killing me. Or maybe because I just don't want that, I'm somehow preventing the stuff from being made. Or the creature has plans for when all the trash is collected." Naruto shrugs before wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

 _'No fair.'_ Hinata mentally whined. _'Why is he so damn attractive? And without even trying?'_ She gave an understanding nod before ordering another bowl and digging in. Out of the corner of her eye; the young Hyuga watched Naruto begin to talk to the young waitress of the restaurant. The woman was no threat to Hinata; she was clearly not interested in the boy in any romantic fashion as well as being just a few years out of his age bracket. Though, being trained killers and all, age really was not an issue. Tales of fresh-out-of-the-academy genin getting involved with much, much older people were common around the gossiping circles of the village and Hinata had it on good authority that even the late female head of the Uchiha clan was seeing a much younger boy on the side.

Hinata did not worry about such things happening to Naruto however. His dense personality would most likely frustrate anyone that tried to seduce him subtly. And the boy did not usually travel to the seedier parts of the village where the more blunt and ravenous of women resided. The only other person Hinata felt was any real threat to her was one Sakura Haruno. Maybe Ino, but Hinata had her doubts.

The two finished eating, payed for their food, and said their goodbyes before heading their own ways home.

Hinata walked right past the guards of the Hyuga compound. Walked right past her father and directly into the Hyuga training grounds. She took of her heavy jacket and began her own private training as she had done every day since falling for the blond Uzumaki. Her greatest fear was that she would appear weak in his eyes. She knew the boy was much too dense to see her as a woman after his own heart; but maybe if she trained hard enough and became strong, then maybe he would see her as a strong warrior and something more then the friendship they already had would sprout.

Hiashi sighted heavily as he heard his eldest daughter training ferociously. Ever since she met that blond haired brat of a boy; she had taken to her training like a fish to water. Becoming so dedicated to do it every single day that she would not stop until exhaustion forced her body to stop moving. It had become such a problem that there were now medical staff permanently stationed inside the training area for when Hinata would inevitably over do it.

While he was proud she was taking her career seriously; Hiashi was afraid that she would become a prisoner to her job and loose who she really was. He did not want Hinata to become another mindless soldier. So, in a move he would refuse with even his dying breath; Hiashi personally saw to it that Naruto befriended his eldest daughter and kept her focused on things other then becoming a ninja. He was completely unaware that the boy was the exact reason for her training or how his little bit of meddling had just caused his daughter's affection for the boy to grow.

While Hinata trained away in her home; Naruto was just getting out of the shower of his own abode. He had to fight his two Stalkers to prevent them from entering the bedroom with him and he could hear them scratching and crying at the door all through his shower. The Slasher just stood there as always; becoming nothing more to the story for a while until the author deems it fit to include it at some point in the future, acting as the guardian of Naruto's small home.

When he finally exited the bathroom, the Stalkers quickly rushed to him and began nuzzling him affectionately. They forced themselves into his bedroom as he tried to change his clothes and would constantly grab at any clothing he tried to put on. It took the boy much longer to get dressed in his pajamas then usual and it slightly annoyed him, even though a large part of him really liked the attention that the two creatures were giving him. He did have to be very forceful in demanding that they stay off his bed as he tried to get some sleep. That did not stop them from whining about it and constantly making shuffling sounds while trying, and failing, to sneak onto the bed while Naruto tried to get some much needed shut eye.

* * *

The next few days went about as expected. Naruto's team would train daily together before heading up to mission assignment room in the Hokage's Tower. Unlike the chunin and jonin of the village; that might be lucky to have a single day without a single mission, there were _always_ missions available for a team of low rank genin. Most of these "missions" were just chores for villagers that were wealthy enough to afford the neighbor kids, but wanted to tell all their friends that office soldiers of the village had come to their aid. Needless to say, calling them missions would be very far from accurate.

What made it slightly worse for our little group of genin, was some of their clients reactions to Naruto's new friends. Though occasionally their reactions would be outright hilarious; or terrifying. For example: The mother that found her few month old's crib being guarded by the two Stalkers. Needles to say seeing a middle aged housewife try to beat the monsters to death with a broom was quiet a sight to behold. As was terrifying the diamyo's wife's cat so badly that it would probably never run away again.

Hinata's team had to deal with the same boring missions and the same boring tasks as Naruto's and the rest of the newly graduated genin. Though unlike the boy of her dreams; Hinata desired to take as many as possible, almost begging to take another right after each and every mission. In her eyes, the more missions she had under her belt, the greater chance of Naruto noticing her. Her desire for his eyes was causing her team to run themselves ragged and thus force them to take a break from anything related to ninja-ing duties.

But that did not stop the young girl from heading straight to her families training are and spending all the time she possible could honing her skills. It was late into the afternoon when she overheard a few of her families servants talking to one another.

Of course, the conversation was one about her beloved Naruto, and the words that were spoken were clearly not in a positive fashion. Hinata was about to reprimand the gossipers when something very special reached her ears.

"Did you hear? Lady Orochimaru is coming back." One servant whispered.

"Yeah." Said another servant in a bored tone of voice. "What about that?"

"Well." The first servant glanced over at Hinata to make sure that she wasn't listening. The young Hyuga was trained well enough to know how to look preoccupied when necessary. "I'm not to sure. I first heard that she was coming to take the position of Hokage and was supposed to be here months ago. But I saw a courier leaving the Hokage's Tower a few days ago looking like his life depending on something being delivered. I guarantee you that it was a letter from the Hokage asking about something."

The other servants did not appear to be giving her much mind from her words. "But." The servant said suddenly. "I heard that it has something to do with that freak."

"Maybe she's coming to taking that little monster away." One servant huffed. "Or better, just out right kill him. Lady Orochimaru is the leader of the the Land of Sound, so I can bet you she would know some way of getting rid of him in some way."

CRACK!

The sound of splintering wood startled to the servants and brought their attention to their leader's first born. The girl stood completely motionless with a palm out in front of a hole that had suddenly appeared in one of the training logs. The servers to the Hyuga family quickly decided to leave the general area if nfor no other reason then just pure fear at the potential anger of Hinata Hyuga.

If they could have seen her face, they would have left a lot sooner. There was an anger on her face that no one had ever sen before. She had heard countless times from the gossipers of the village of people "planning" to harm her loved one; but deep down she knew that none of them ever would. It was no secret that the Hokage cared very deeply for the blond orphan and thus it would not do anyone well to deal any kind of harm to the lad. But this talk of an outside source coming in and doing what the villagers could not did not ring well with the young Hyuga.

No one would harm her Naruto. No one. Not even one of the legendary Sannin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was in an uproar. Excitement could be felt in every corner of the village; from the pristine and grand wealthy district to the filthy and run down slums. Not an inch of the village wasn't near bursting with energy. Shops were being left open later and stocked sooner with more supplies; business were working over time while their hard working employees ran to and fro; all with wide, nearly dumb looking, smiles plastered on their faces. Now, this was normally reserved for major festivals and the like; but the closest festival was at least two months away. Clearly not soon enough for everyone to be so cheery and excited.

All of it just left poor Naruto confused. He wasn't even getting of the glares he usually did when he walked down the village streets. Hell, he was actually getting smiles occasionally; even with his monstrous Stalkers walking by his side. It was actually so unsettling to the boy that he had made several attempts at genjutsu removal with the belief that he was trapped within one.

While he tried to ignore the unnerving feeling; Naruto continued on his way to the Hokage's Tower. His team had been specifically summoned by the old man with the reason being withheld until the entire team's arrival. Knowing how their sensei loved to take his time, they would probably not find anything out until nightfall; it was currently early morning.

Naruto had to nearly fight his way past the reception area of the Tower due to the number of people bustling about. When the lad was finally able to wrestle his way past the group of people he had to wait for his Stalkers to do the same. They were not allowed to hurt anybody without their master's say so, and with them being literal living killing machines, it was quiet difficult for them to get through a crowd without someone accidentally impaling themselves on their claws or the sharp protrusions on the front of their skulls.

After finally being free from the lot; the three made their way up to the Hokage's office. The same office Naruto had gone to nearly every day of his young life. A new guard that he did not recognize stood on one side of the office door while a long time ninja stood in his usual place on the other side. Neither made any motion when Naruto and his beasts walked through the door. Last time someone did, they received a few broken ribs courtesy of a nasty headbutt from one of his Stalkers; hence the new guard.

Upon entering the room; Naruto was instantly shocked to not only see both Sakura and Sasuke waiting for him, but also Kakashi standing there with his book out.

"Finally." Sasuke grumbled. Naruto shot him a look before stepping up to his spot in between his two teammates; his Stalkers standing on either side behind him.

"What took you so long?" Sakura asked with a somewhat disappointed look. Naruto just jabbed a finger at his pets; who gave slightly irritated clicks in response. Nothing else was said as they all stood at attention; Kakashi even put his book away and stood straight.

Sarutobi looked at the group for a moment before speaking. "Now I bet your all wondering why I have called for your team specifically." He began.

"Is it a special top secret special mission?!" Naruto exclaimed. His voice held as much excitement as the entire village. Naruto's reward for his sudden outburst was a hard elbow jab into the ribs from one Sakura Haruno. He was almost positive she broke at least one of his ribs from the power of the jab since the pain was enough to make the boy double over and fight back tears.

The Hokage smiled softly at Naruto's excitement. "Yes it is, Naruto." He stated. "But that is not what all that I have called you here for." He leaned forward a bit and rested his arms on his desk. "As I am sure you are all aware, Lady Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin is returning. Today."

Sakura's face lit up so much and so suddenly that it nearly blinded the lot of them. Naruto wanted to elbow her like she did him, but knew that doing so would only result in severe pain.

"I want you all to be at the village gates when she arrives." His eyes focused on Kakashi for a split second. A moment so fast that none of the genin noticed. The jonin and Hokage had a small conversation with that one glance. A conversation that explained more then a small conversation ever could.

Sakura was about to bounce of the walls while Sasuke started thinking if he could somehow get some special training from the legendary ninja.

"I want your team to escort her to my office. After, I will hand you your first official C-rank mission." Now it was Naruto's turn to be super excited.

Handing out missions was usually left to the duty of the staff working in the mission assignment room of the Hokage's Tower; but Sarutobi felt that it was the Hokage's duty to be the first to hand each ninja their first rank up missions as well as special missions and tasks that were either very secretive or politically fragile. It did the old man's heat good when he got to see his ninja swell up with pride when taking their first C, B, or A ranked missions.

Sakura raised her hand like as if she was still in the academy. "Not to question your orders, Lord Hokage, but why are you sending a team of genin, let alone us, to escort Lady Orochimaru? Wouldn't at least several jonin have the job?" There was no disrespect in the girl's voice at all what so ever.

Sarutobi looked at the girl for a moment before leaning back slightly in his large chair. "It was Lady Orochimaru that asked for your team specifically." He answered.

Naruto was confused as to why someone of such legendary power and knowledge would want anything to do with his little rag-tag group of ninja. Sasuke just assumed that the Sannin was coming to either study his family's blood line abilities or teach him something new. Sakura was both confused and ecstatic at not only getting the chance to meet one of her idols, but also to potentially work under her for however long they were allowed.

Kakashi just gave each of his underlings a look that demanded they all be on their best behavior before finally speaking up. "We will escort Lady Orochimaru safely to you, Lord Hokage." He verified before turning. "Move out!" He shouted in a very un-Kakashi-like manner. His uncharacteristic attitude was due to the importants of the given mission. Sure it was simply escorting the target down an almost straight road; but it was one of the most powerful ninja the Hidden Leave Village had ever produced as well as the leader of the newly formed Land of Sound.

His team about-faced in unison before marching out of the Hokage's office like the good little soldiers they were. Hearing Kakashi sound so dead serious was too terrifying for the young teens to even think about questioning his orders. The Stalkers followed closely behind.

Sarutobi just gave a heavy sigh before turning around in his chair and staring out of the window at the grand village he ruled. Thing where only going to get stranger and stranger long before anything could ever begin to make a lick of sense.

* * *

"This is the greatest day of my life." Sakura gushed in a manner not unlike a young school girl. "I get to personally meet the most intelligent kunoichi that ever lived." Her eyes shone like a brilliant galaxy. "Oh, to think of all the wonderful things I could learn from her."

The two Stalkers made a few soft clicks directed towards each other before a low coughing sound came from one. Sakura, in turn, pulled herself out of her fantasy and sent a powerful glare at the creatures.

"Was I talking to you?" She asked harshly.

The Stalkers made their way behind Naruto, trying to hide the fear the pink-haired girl sent through their dead body's.

Everyone else ignored the girl and focused more on the task that was soon to come.

The team arrived at the village's main gate and generally just stood around and waited for the arrival of their honored guest. Fortunately for everyone, the great Sannin of the Mind did not have the same habit for tardiness as Kakashi and arrived only a short while after Naruto's group.

They first noticed what appeared to be two carriages being pulled by some powerful war horses. Clearly a symbol of the power and importance of the person inside of at least one of them. The first horse-drawn carriage approached the village while the second waited a good distance away. The reason for why was lost upon the genin.

When the first carriage arrived at the gate; two guards quickly went to attend to the horses while a third quickly opened the carriage door while giving a very deep bow. It was a bit strange to see several highly trained shinobi act like royal servants; but considering who was inside the carriage, it was understandable.

Upon the door's opening and the reveal of the great woman; Naruto's jaw nearly hit the ground. There was an air of power and beauty that radiated off the woman that even the well trained Kakashi could not help but give a surprised cough. Her royal aura only grew stronger as Lady Orochimaru stepped out of the carriage and onto the unworthy ground.

The first and most obvious feature the woman possessed, physically, was her white-as-pure-snow skin that appeared to glow with an ethereal beauty the felt like it was impossible to exist in such an ugly world. Next was the Sannin's bright yellow, snake-like eyes that held a wisdom far beyond the age anyone could ever live to. Despite her age, the woman appeared to still be within her mid-twenties and not a single fault could be found on any of her exposed flesh. Not that much skin was visible however as the woman had decided to adorn herself in such regal robes that Naruto was not sure that even the diamyo of the land would ever be able to even dream of possessing them. Only her head was exposed to the warm sun that caused her dark tresses to shine almost like polished obsidian.

Lady Orochimaru stepped away from the carriage and slowly turned her head to the group of ninja that were to be her escorts. Her piercing eyes glanced over each of them. There was nothing that any of them could hide. Just from looking directly into her eyes; the genin plus Kakashi could feel every single secret being exposed to the woman, every single thought of their mind were hers to read at her leisure. The analytical look of her eyes, however, held no animosity and felt more less like a demeaning glare and more of a desire to understand the people in front of her.

Naruto had never before felt so naked in his entire life; not even Hinata's eyes made him feel so vulnerable. His Stalkers clearly did not like the way the woman was making their Marker and moved to either of Naruto's sides; ready in case of conflict. He did not know if that woman could read minds or not; but he hoped to the almighty deities above she could not. There were some thoughts he was having that he dreamed would _never_ get out. The most prominent being, what Lady Orochimaru looked like underneath all that royal wear.

The woman slowly made her way over to the group of genin; her movements so smooth and fluid that she appeared to float along the ground instead of actually walk.

She stopped in front of Kakashi and gave the jonin a smile so soft and gentle that even the most loving and perfect mother would feel like an absolute failure. Not a word was spoken between the two; Naruto had doubts that Kakashi was even able to speak even if he wanted to.

Lady Orochimaru walked past the jonin and looked directly at the next person in the group; the young Uchiha, Sasuke. He was currently having an internal battle between keeping his usual stoic and serious expression, or to just give in and fall to his knees before this powerful figure. The amount of power she radiated was far beyond that he could ever hope to dream of. So much was it, that the boy had doubts that he would even be able to survive an hour of whatever kind of training this woman could provide. The woman's look was impossible to describe as her gaze pierced the boy's very soul. Unlike with Kakashi, no smile grazed the woman's lips before she softly walked over to the next genin.

Sakura's knees visibly shook as one of her idols stood directly in front of her. The pinkette's eyes shown with such brilliance that it made Lady Orochimaru's perfect skin shine even more. This was a dream come true for the girl and yet she could not even mutter a sound in the presence of one of the most powerful ninja to ever exist. Sakura did not feel pathetic or cowardly, however, instead she felt humbled and honored to even be recognized by such a figure. An appreciative smile formed on Lady Orochimaru's pink lips before she gave a slight nod at the girl and moved over to the final member of the team.

Naruto's mouth was still open and had to be forcibly closed and held shut by Sakura. When she approached the boy; Naruto's Stalkers started to go into a frantic fit of screams and roars while making violent gestures with their claws and ramming skulls. They did not like the way their Marker reacted to this figure. To them, that meant danger. Everyone ignored them though.

Lady Orochimaru stared down at Naruto with a look of such purity that it made the boy feel like he needed to shower in blessed maiden tears just to even come close to feeling clean enough. The woman actually crouched down in front of the boy and moved to within inches of his young face. Her eyes never leaving his. He was sure that the woman could read his mind as a small smile graced her lips once again. He prayed that she did not read the thought he had about doing dirty things to her. He really really wanted to see under her robes.

She stood up without looking away from the boy. "What?" She finally spoke in such a soft yet regal tone of voice that nearly everyone around her fell to their knees in respect. "Am I too beautiful for words?" She giggled. The tone was so beautiful to Naruto's ears that he honestly thought he was in love with the woman already.

Naruto tried to respond, but he found his mouth to be suddenly very very dry. He tried several times to speak but only achieved to look like a complete idiot in front of the beautiful woman.

"C-come on team." Kakashi said in such a terrible voice that it sounded less like a seasoned ninja giving orders as so much a prepubescent dweeb trying to impress a group of girls.

The team quickly moved into their escort formation. Kakashi in the back to keep an eye out for any potential threats that the genin might miss. Sasuke leading the group with his direct fighting style. Sakura on one side and Naruto and his monsters on the other.

No one was able to speak. Even with the woman walking among them; the ninja still felt so inadequate around her that it was just plain impossible to do so. The same seemed to happen to everyone the group passed; with sudden silence and bowing following them through the village.

* * *

"I am pleased to see you have arrived safely." Sarutobi said while shacking the soft hand of Lady Orochimaru. It had been years since the two had seen each other and the man was more then happy to see one of his students alive and well. "It is good to see you again."

"It is a pleasure to see you as well, Lord Hokage." The woman said in an almost mocking tone. She knew something about the old man that no one else ever would. A secret so deep that she had used it at least several dozen times to gain leverage in her own goals. This leverage pretty much gave the woman free reign to speak to the village leader however she pleased. Her status did not hurt things either.

The two stared at each other for a moment; their eyes telling so much more then words ever could.

Sarutobi broke the eye contact and looked past the woman to the young group of ninja that stood behind her. He reached into one of the sleeves of his robe before pulling out two small scrolls.

He pardoned himself as he walked around Lady Orochimaru. "This." He handed Kakashi one of the scrolls. "Is detailed instructions of the mission." He then handed the jonin the second scroll. "And this is what you will be delivering to the Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sands and returning his response immediately to me."

The old man had to stifle a chuckle at Naruto's widening eyes. The boy looked so exited that he would explode with joy if any other news came his way.

"Um; Lord Hokage?" Sakura pipped up; her hand raised once again like a school student. "Why are you entrusting something as important as a political message to a bunch of genin? Let alone fresh from the academy genin?"

Sarutobi smiled at the young girl's inquisitive nature. He had heard plenty of tales of a pink haired academy student that would burn out her teachers with too many questions long before the school's lunch period. Looks like those tales were not entirely false.

"The mission itself should not be anything you all can not handle. The worst you should come across are bandits and highwaymen that prey upon anyone passing along those roads." He eyed Naruto's creations. "Besides, I think you have a few things that are far scarier then anything else in these lands."

The Stalkers gave a few hoots that almost sounded prideful.

"Lord Hokage." Lady Orochimaru spoke up. "I would appreciate it greatly if you would allow me to accompany this team up to the country's border." It sounded less like a request and more of a demand. "I would like to personally gauge these young ninjas capabilities." Her eyes focused for an instant on Naruto.

Sarutobi understood the woman's true desires and knew better then to refuse a request from her. He gave a nod and received a small smile from the powerful woman.

"Alright team." Kakashi alerted his genin. "You have one hour to prepare and meet me and Lady Orochimaru at the village's front gate. Pack enough for at least a full month and meet me," He glanced over at Lady Orochimaru who gave the man an unreadable look. The woman was attractive as all get out, but she made the jonin feel so small and inferior with her mere presence that it made the man almost to scared to look her in the eye. Of course he would not let anyone know that and ruin his reputation as the cool headed and strong copy-cat ninja he was.

The genin gave salutes to confirm their understanding of the order before quickly departing from the Hokage's Tower and heading to their respective home's to prepare for the mission. Kakashi gave a low bow at the remaining pair in the room before taking his own leave.

Lady Orochimaru looked at Sarutobi straight in the eye before giving a small innocent smile and walking out the door. The old man walked back to his chair and fell into it heavily. That woman was going to be the death of him; he just knew it.

* * *

Hinata stood patiently in front of Naruto's apartment door with her arms crossed and a slightly irritated look adorning her cute face. In the past few weeks, she and her love interest had been much too busy with their careers to have much time to even talk. The most Hinata had been able to get was a quick 'hello' as Naruto would run to his team's training area.

Hinata needed her Naruto time damn it!

The girl sighed and was about to leave when she noticed an orange blur sided by two dark red blurs heading straight for her. Hinata instantly knew who it was and she could not hide the soft smile that formed on her lips.

The blurs came to a sudden halt right in front of the girl and showed a panting, but smiling, Naruto and his two Stalkers.

"Hey Hinata." Naruto said while panting a bit. He had decided to race his Stalkers home and was positive he was going to win. But he had unfortunately forgot that they had been made from the corpses of highly trained and very strong Leave Village kunoichi. Meaning, that they had a whole lot more muscle mass then he did and did not suffer from physical fatigue as a living creature would.

"What are you doing at my place?" He asked with honest curiosity. He had shown the girl where he lived a long time ago when they were much younger, but she normally never traveled to it unless to let him know he missed class during the academy days.

"I just wanted to drop by and see how my good friend Naruto was doing." Hinata said before crossing her arms across her chest and turning around in a huff. "I've barely gotten a hello from one of my special friends in weeks." She made a face while turned away.

"I'm sorry Hinata." Naruto apologized sincerely. "I've just been so busy with training and missions." He opened his apartment door. "In fact. I gotta' pack for another one right now." He could not hide his excitement as he allowed his Stalkers to walk past him and into the building.

Hinata let out a frustrated sigh. Just one hour. One. Hour. Was all she was asking to spend at least a teeny bit of time with her Naruto. Was that just too much to ask?

Naruto quickly turned Hinata around and continued to smile that massive smile that would always make the Hyuga girl's heart melt. "You'll never guess what the mission is too." He said excitedly.

Hinata did not respond as her mind was currently filled with images of her and the blond doing the typical things a young couple would do together. Go out to eat. Go shopping. Go on missions together. Have each others back in life or death situation. And have copious amounts of fun with each other. Fun. Just fun. Nothing else. Nothing. Else. At all.

"It's an actual mission outside of the village!" Naruto shouted in the poor girl's face. That snapped Hinata out of her daze.

"Wow. Really?" She asked.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "It's to deliver something important to the Village Hidden in the Sands." He puffed his chest out. "The old man himself handed us the mission."

"I am very happy for you Naruto." Hinata said with the soft and gentle smile she had become so well known for. While she was very happy; at the same time, Hinata felt conflicted. Naruto was already doing missions outside of the safety of the village walls. He was now going to be going out and actually encountering dangers that their career had trained them for. And here Hinata was; still stuck inside the safe village where nothing would ever harm or threaten her.

She was falling behind and that was _not_ something she would stand for. She would not allow her crush to see her as a burden or weak. Hinata made a mental note to have a word with her sensei about getting some higher ranked missions.

"Thanks." Naruto said happily before surprising the young girl and pulling her into a massive hug. Hinata had to fight to keep her mind from going into a very dimly lit room filled with several pieces of equipment that would go right along with the Torture and Interrogation Department's _special_ torture room.

She shook her head right before Naruto let her go and started to walk into his apartment. "I'll be sure to tell you all about it once I get back." He said, still with that same stupid smile.

Hinata wanted to smile back, but a thought that had been in the back of her mind since the beginning of the conversation finally forced it's way out of her mouth.

"Please don't die." There was no tone of doubt about his ability or confidence in his obvious future success of the mission. It was Hinata's pure worry for Naruto. A worry that she had since discovering they would not be on the same team. She was no longer able to be around him and insure his safety.

With him out of the village and out from under the watchful eye of the village guards; there was no telling what could happen to him.

Naruto looked Hinata straight in the eye; still showing off his confident smile. "You have nothing to worry about Hinata. What kind of future Hokage would I be if I died before even getting the job?" The complete and total confidence he had in himself spread out from him and filled Hinata with the same feeling.

She wanted to curse herself for even thinking that something would happen to her blond. He had an entire unliving army with him as well as that nightmarish stuff his eye(s) could do. There was not way that anything would ever come to harm Naruto.

"Ow. Damn it!" Said knucklehead cursed as he banged his toe on the door frame to his apartment.

Hinata sighed before giving Naruto a friendly wave goodbye. He responded with one of his own before flashing Hinata's favorite smile. This time however; Hinata allowed her mind to wander to some very pleasant thoughts. She had done enough worrying and training as of late that she felt like she deserved a little break.

She did always have a unique fascination her rear end and wondered what it would be life if Naruto...

* * *

The young Uzumaki shut his front door with a sigh. He missed hanging out with his friends and would have loved nothing more then to spend the rest of the day talking with his closest one. But he had a mission to prepare for.

Naruto purposely left out the part where his team would be traveling with the goddess that was Lady Orochimaru. Hinata tended to get a bit scary when he would talk to much about another girl. He could never figure out why though. It was the strangest thing.

His Stalkers tilted their heads at their master as he started to go about his apartment, packing for the upcoming mission. The Slasher had actually turned it's usually motionless head to look at it's creator as well. He was leaving. The Marker would not be there to be protected or to prevent the creation of more of the mutated dead. But without it; any dead that the Slasher would make would not join it's slowly growing family. The creature turned it's head back to it's initial position; staring straight forward at the front door. Patiently waiting for an unwelcome visitor to burst through and join it's kind.

Naruto was packed and ready in a relatively short amount of time. Before leaving his apartment; he looked back at the Slasher for a moment before whistling for his Stalkers to follow and closing the door behind him. The boy was a bit worried about what the purely single-minded creature would do without him being nearby to control it; but there was nothing that could be done. He just hoped that his orders to guard that single apartment would stick completely.

The Uzumaki was the second member of the team to arrive at the village gates. Sasuke had apparently beaten him there. Neither interacted with the other besides the odd glares tossed at one another. The few weeks that they have spent training as a team appeared to have developed a sort of rivalry between the two young shinobi. Though Sasuke would never admit to it and Naruto would vehemently refuse to accept his skill being anywhere near as low as the Uchiha's.

The tension between the two was so much so that even the Stalkers tried to insure they were in between the two just in case they tried something stupid. Luckily, the arrival of their third teammate, Sakura, diffused the tension slightly as she began to chirp excitedly about being able to experience the world outside of the village.

The three waited until almost sundown before both Kakashi and Lady Orochimaru arrived. Behind the royal woman was the second carriage that had been following her personal one. Said carriage moved past the group and stopped right at the entrance to the expansive forest that nearly covered the entire Land of Fire.

"Are we all ready?" Kakashi asked. He tried his best to hide his own excitement. He was finally leading a team on a mission outside of the village. Not just any normal team of shinobi; he had lead small groups of highly trained assassins dozens of times while being a oart of the village's elite ninja force. He was leading _his_ team; _his_ group of young shinobi that would one day shape the world.

The genin all gave their own words of acknowledgment and were about to follow their master through the village's massive gate; only to be halted by Lady Orochimaru's words.

"Before we go. I would like to request Naruto's help with a little experiment of mine." She said in an almost cheerful tone.

Naruto turned so quickly to face her that the air around him almost caught fire. He opened his mouth to speak, but once his eyes focused on the woman before him, no words would come out. He could feel his face brighten considerably as Lady Orochimaru gazed down at the boy with a kind smile. Naruto opened and closed his mouth several times once again to have no sound come out.

Lady Orochimaru would have been lying if she did not say she enjoyed the boy's reaction to her mere presence. The boy was cute though, so she wouldn't be too mean. That did not mean she wasn't going to tease him later. He was an adult now, just as she was, so it was alright. Right?

"Are you willing to help?" She asked gently. All Naruto could do was nod his head furiously. Lady Orochimaru smiled before gliding past the genin team and walking out of the village towards the carriage. The team followed silently. Most everyone took note of Sakura's heated glare at Naruto for being the one her idol asked for assistance from.

"And what exactly do you want my young student to help you with, Lady Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked in a weird tone composed of tone of both humility and sarcasm.

The woman ignored the man and looked Naruto right in the eyes. "Let go." She whispered nearly silently.

Naruto looked at the woman in confusion.

"Let go." She said in a slightly louder whisper. "Let what will happen, happen. You'll be making your home stronger, you'll make a powerful weapon."

It finally dawned on Naruto what the woman wanted him to do. "You want me to make more?"

"Not just more." She responded, the excitement evident in her voice. She had read over the Hokage's reports so many times that she had nearly every single word memorized. The list of experiment she wanted to form with the boy was endless and with such open freedom to conduct, most of them, Lady Orochimaru was more then a little excited to get started.

She looked at the carriage for a moment before pointing at the Stalkers. "You made those from single bodies within the forest. And they took that form to be able to maneuver through the thick trees without restraint." She looked back at the carriage. "So what would something made from more then one body in the woods make?"

Naruto suddenly realized what was inside the carriage. Corpses, there was a mount of bodies hidden within the horse drawn carriage. All there just to test Naruto's abilities. The boy did not know whether to feel happy that he was important enough for one of the most powerful shinobi in the world to take note of his abilities; or disgusted that the dead were now nothing more then something to experiment with.

He looked at his teammate for even the slightest hope of guidance. Sasuke was scowling just as always and was no help while Kakashi was turned away, nose buried within his book. Sakura however was giving Naruto a worried look.

"Do you think you can do it?' She asked honestly.

It was not the question of whether Naruto could physically do the asked task, but more of if he could actually control whatever he made. But the usefulness of his creation to both him and the village was just enough to push Naruto's doubt from his mind. He would not fail his home or his friends.

With determination burning behind his bright blue eyes, Naruto responded. "I can."


	5. Chapter 5

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

"Alright." Naruto said softly after taking yet another calming breath. Unlike when making the Stalkers; what he was about to make was big, very big and very very angry.

"Go on." Lady Orochimaru tried to gently egg the boy on but failed to hide the slight excitement in her voice. She was slightly disappointed that she would not get to see the bodies transform first hand due to the covered horse-drawn carriage blocking the view, but seeing what they would become was enough to satisfy her curious mind for the moment.

The excited hooting coming from the bouncing Stalkers tried to do the same. They were very pleased with the prospect of getting a new addition to the family.

Naruto stepped up close to the carriage and was finally able to smell the scent of death coming from the wooden vehicle. He swallowed hard as he slowly reduced the amount of suppression he had on his transformation inducing signal. He could feel the field of influence slowly expand out from his body. The Stalkers became more excited as they felt the signal wash over them.

When the signal field reached the carriage; nothing happened. At first. But the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bone eventually reached the ears of the nearby ninja. The carriage tipped every now and then as the weight of the mass inside shifted back and forth.

Without warning, a large appendage composed of misshapen nerves and muscle launched out from the covered carriage and impaled the two horses that had been hitched to it through their respective necks. The appendage remained embedded into the horses until the very last signs of life left their forms before pulling the fresh corpses back into the carriage to provide extra material for the new creature being formed.

With the added weight mixed in with the constant shifted, the carriage carrying the newly forming monster collapsed to the ground. Surprising considering that the type of carriage that was being used was generally used to haul heavy construction equipment.

Everyone stepped back as the sounds died down and the bulging sides of the carriage splintered away to reveal the new abomination.

The first thing everyone noticed was its size. The thing was **big**. Very big. At least compared to most normal animals that inhabited this wonderful world with it standing as tall as at least two full grown men. The second most obvious feature of the creature was the fact that its body was long and slender while having highly elongated limps.

The creature had a think yet very flexible neck with a single human head forming its own. Only, the upper jaw of the human head had now expanded into a massive maw filled with countless needle-like fangs while having a pair of mandibles protruding from either side of the face. It's long, almost serpentine-like body was almost completely covered with misshapen bone fragments and hardened necrotic flesh; giving the creature an almost impenetrable armor and a very spiky look. Perfect for traveling through thickets while chasing prey in the thick forest.

Right at the base of the monster's neck were two arms almost exactly like that of the Slasher's. Their position on the creature's body insured that if anything was somehow able to get underneath it; it would not be under it for long. Just above these smaller arms where the monster's primary set. They were almost as long as the creature's body and were covered with the same bone and hard flesh as the rest of it's body. At the end of each arm where three strong finger-like appendages spaced equal distances away from each other.

The creatures back legs where almost exactly the same as the front, except for the backwards facing knees and being generally thinner then the arms. Right where the back legs connected to the torso where another pair of smaller arms similar to the gripping front pair. Another pair of Slasher-like bladed arms rested at the middle of the creature's back.

All in all, the thing was a terrifying sight to behold. And the nearly constant drooling and low growling gurgles coming from it did not help ease that image. It stared down at the group with it's two beady yellow eyes before fixating its gaze at it's creator.

"Amazing." Lady Orochimaru whispered. Her eyes drank in every last detail she could on the monster's anatomy. Every last inch of twisted flesh and sharp bone told her nearly everything she needed to know about the monster.

Naruto looked at his creation and tried to gauge how well it would respond to him. He was still confused. From the images his guest had provided; these monsters where meant to be completely mindless killers with their intelligence limited to catching and killing prey no matter the circumstanced. But nearly everything Naruto had currently made was acting different.

The creatures were acting as if they actually had a mind of their own. The Slasher actually guarded his apartment; something that they normally would not be able to even comprehend let alone actually implement. The Stalkers where acting more like trained pet dogs then the nightmarish creatures they were meant to be. And the new addition to the family was not going on a blind rampage like the distorted images had told Naruto.

The monster slowly lowered it's head down to Naruto and pressed it against the boy's hand; a gesture anyone familiar with animals would recognize as a desire to be touched.

Naruto hesitantly placed his hand on the monster's head and gently petted the creature. The Stalkers started making annoyed hoots out of jealousy and started to nudge Naruto for their own turn.

"Um." Sakura finally spoke up. "What are you going to call it?" She asked a bit reserved. She knew she was strong enough to possibly fight off something as impressive as the new monster; but considering she saw a sword piercing the chest of one of Naruto's creatures do nothing to faze it, her strength could possibly be useless if things went poorly.

"Hmmm." Naruto thought for a moment. "It has a lot of anger." He said mostly to himself. "It's relentless and more difficult to kill then the others." He turned his head to look directly at Sakura. "I think I'll call it, the Tormentor."

Sakura nodded her head slowly before glancing over at her other teammate and found something she had never seen before. Fear in the Uchiha's eyes.

The boy had tried to hide it everyone, how Naruto's power effected him. What his eye could possibly do as well as the abominations he could create. He had seen the Slasher and the Stalkers and thought that they were pretty much well defined examples of what the boy was limited in creating. The thought that more then one body could be used never registered within his young mind. Now seeing what Naruto could really create, scared the Uchiha more then anything else.

The mental image of every murdered member of his clan fused into a massive creature controlled by the village idiot terrified Sasuke just as much as pissed him off like nothing ever had before. Only his hatred for his brother outweighed his hatred of that possibility.

"I wonder." Lady Orochimaru mumbled while slowly walking around the Tormentor. "What would the body of someone with a bloodline be like." Her eyes flickered over to Sasuke for just a brief moment. Sasuke noticed and was tempted to bash the woman in the face for even thinking something to disgusting.

"Would the transformation change?" Her eyes noticed a small piece of hanging flesh from the monster and pulled it away effortlessly before hiding it away in her robes. It was not much. Just enough for her to conduct more research on these new entities that were being controlled by a twelve year old genin.

"Ahem." Kakashi coughed. "Shall we get a move on now?" He asked in a somewhat annoyed manner. They had a mission to complete and the walk to the Village Hidden in the Sand was already going to be a long enough without needing to stop to satiate Lady Orochimaru's curious mind.

"Oh dear." Said women sounded honestly surprised. "I am so sorry to have kept you all from your mission." She walked beside Kakashi and turned back to face the genin. "I'll be sure to help you two as well." She said at Sasuke and Sakura.

"Then let's go." Kakashi said with a huff.

Since the mission was not one with any real urgency; the team deiced to take it slow getting to their destination. Meaning it would take at least a few days of travel before they would arrive.

There were no conflicts on their path. Having three monsters with you tended to scare off any highwaymen that might have tried to attack the group. The Stalkers had a habit of constantly going around and in between the group while the large Tormentor stayed in the back; or more accurately above the group. The monster's long legs and wide stance made it out to be an almost unliving canopy above the group.

As they traveled, both Kakashi and Lady Orochimaru opted to train the genin in their own respected strengths. The joinin focused more of his time with Sasuke then the rest of his team and allowed the more powerful adult to work with Naruto and Sakura; which said woman was more then happy to deal with. Almost too happy one would say.

When night would fall and camp was set up, the ninja would take the opportunity to save their rations and hunt the various forms of wildlife that could be found in the massive forest of the Land of Fire. Despite how much effort any of the ninja would put into the taste, the Stalkers would always catch more then even the highly trained Lady Orochimaru and Kakashi. Their ability to detect living flesh was nothing to laugh at.

Since the undead monsters did not require any sleep; they stood guard and allowed the living ninja to get as much sleep as they needed. A very rare and nearly impossible luxury when out in the field, so the group decided to take full advantage.

It was on such a night that something different happened. The group had been on the move for two days straight and were nearing the border that separated the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Already, the vast forest was slowly thinning out as they had neared it and gave way to thin woods and finally to far stretching plains.

Everyone slept in their own individual tent. Each was rigged with a multitude of sound traps that would instantly wake every ninja if something were to happen to one of them. But the sounds Naruto's beasts would create would probably do the job just as well.

It took Naruto a bit longer then normal to fall asleep. Every time he tried, the images and voices would start up again. He knew it was the entitiy within him trying to manipulate him. Trying to weaken his will and make him bend to it's will. The being clearly did not know who Naruto was since anyone could tell you that breaking Naruto was about as easy a task as getting an Aburame to emotionally open up to a complete stranger.

Instead, Naruto took the images and voices as guides on how he could control his abilities. Despite being meant to break his mind, Naruto was able to use them to make his Stalkers and the Tormentor. Seeing all the horrifying creations just meant Naruto would be able to make more effective soldiers for his home village.

"Ugh." He mumbled to himself in his dark tent. "I wish you'd stop." He whispered to the creature in his stomach while rolling over to get more comfortable. "It's getting annoying."

An untold amount of time pasted before Naruto could feel sleep slowly claim him. And it would have if he had not heard the sound of his tent's zipper slowly being pulled down.

It could not be an enemy as his creations would have made a horrible racket otherwise. His mind raced with the possibilities of who it could be and what they wanted, but nothing Naruto could come up with made sense to the boy.

He heard someone enter his tent and slowly zip the tent back up. He was facing away from the intruder and waited patiently for was to happen next. Maybe someone had to relive themselves and they just went into Naruto's tent by accident.

The sound of ruffling clothes blew that idea out the window and he tried not to jump as a hand slowly placed itself upon the boy's covered shoulder. Naruto did not flinch nor did he change his breathing. Ninja training could be very useful in even the most mundane of situations.

The hand slowly trailed up the boy's shoulder and gently hitched a finger over the part of the sleeping bag that covered him. Without making a single sound; the figure was able to completely pull the cover off of Naruto and leave him in nothing but his skin tight black shirt and boxers. As much as Naruto would rather have brought his normal pajamas; the likelihood of being attacked while asleep was too great to risk the time it would take to change into more appropriate battle attire.

"Oh." A familiar voice cooed. "Your going to become quite the handsome thing in a few years." Lady Orochimaru slowly trailed a hand from the boy's shoulder to his chest before snaking it down to his stomach.

The woman leaned in close. "I know your awake Little Naruto." She gently bit down on the boy's ear.

Naruto could not take it anymore and quickly sat up so rapidly that he nearly gave the woman a nasty headbutt. The sight before him however almost knocked the boy right out.

There, in his tent, sat the beautiful Lady Orochimaru wearing nothing more then a dark purple nightgown made of what appeared to be the softest fabric man could ever make. Besides that, there was nothing else unusual about the clothing. In fact, the nightgown gave Naruto no indication of what was underneath, not even a small outline of the woman's breasts or hips could be seen. It was the most conservative nightwear the boy had ever seen.

Yet it was still such a powerful image; seeing the strong and beautiful Lady Orochimaru sitting so close to him in such a small space in her nightwear.

Naruto tried to speak but could only gulp loudly while trying to scoot as far back from the woman as possible. The woman smirked before quickly snatching the boy's wrist; holding him in place while delicately raising a hand up to the boy's face.

Naruto's bright blue eyes gazed into the woman's snake-like yellow orbs before he forced his head away. Lady Orochimaru's hand forced him to face her as her face slowly inched closer to his.

The boy was more scared now then he had ever been in his entire life.

"Your going to do amazing things." The woman whispered as her face got closer and closer to the young boy's. "I'm going to snag you up before anyone else ever gets a chance."

"It's time to move!" Sakura shouted from outside the tent; forcing Naruto awake from the dream he had just been having.

The boy slowly sat up and felt where he could have sworn Lady Orochimaru had touched him. It had felt so real; yet he could not remember anything that had happened past her final words to him. Or where they her final words?

Naruto quickly got dressed and backed up his sleeping bag before leaving his tent to pull it down and pack it as well. With everyone packed and ready to go; and all signs of there very presence being completely removed, the team once again set out for the Village Hidden within the Sands.

Before they could even get going; Lady Orochimaru announced that she would be heading back to the village and wished the team the best of luck while also reminding each of the genin to remember the very few things she had taught them.

The ninja team, plus living dead, continued onward through the every growing expanse of nearly treeless plains before reaching the physical border that separated the Land of Fire from the Land of Wind. The border was simply where the hard and fertile compact Earth of the Land of Fire and the softer and more loose soil of the Land of Wind, met.

It was hot. Very hot. Too hot. The blazing sun beat down on the ninja without remorse and did all it could to drain them of both energy and body fluids as three of the four were now drenched in sweat as they crossed the now expansive desert that hid their goal.

The three genin were doing their best to ration their water while traveling at a respectable speed.

Kakashi had warned the group that the nights in the desert were just as bad if not worse then the day; except freezing cold instead of sweltering heat. This had increased the group's speed considerably.

It was still early in the day and still the sun was already boiling the ninja to near death. Except for Kakashi, even with his full gear and mask, the man did not show even the smallest hint of discomfort or the smallest collection of sweat. All the while both Naruto and Sasuke had removed their jackets and overshirts, respectively, while Sakura was bold enough to actually remove the skin tight spandex shorts she usually wore. She was sure to give the males of her team ample warning against anything perverted they might have been thinking when she noticed both Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes trail up her legs. A warning of a very severe beating.

Luckily for everyone, the Tormentor was more then happy to help block the sun with it's large form and provide at least a little bit of shade for the uncomfortable genin. It was a welcome respite from the completely unforgiving rays of the blazing sun.

The undead were completely unaffected by the extreme heat. Being dead seemed to give them the added benefit of not really feeling much of anything, uncomfortable heat being one of those things. The ninja were also pleased that whatever allowed the corpses to become what they now were also prevented or halted any rotting as the smell of decaying flesh mixed in with the unbearable heat would probably be just a little too much for the genin to handle.

It was in the early afternoon that the group finally saw something other then rolling mounds of sand off in the distance. Two massive stone cliffs that lead directly into a very small valley. The well known entrance to the Village Hidden within the Sands.

Just before even Naruto could crack a smile; Kakashi stopped the group to make a few announcements.

"I want all of you to be on your best behavior while we are here." Despite his words being almost foolish to say to a three well trained ninja, there was no mirth in his voice. "Things between are two villages is tense at best; with the whole issue of the Land of Wind's daimyo using out village's ninja instead of his own country's." He mumbled the last bit.

Kakashi looked at the monsters that had been traveling with his team. "And we can't really have these things wandering about and causing unnecessary complications."

Naruto and his team nodded before he gave the undead his orders. They were to remain hidden from view unless needed. The Stalkers really did not have much trouble with that since their thin bodies and agility mixed in with their natural ability to detect living flesh would insure that they could walk into the very middle of even the most busy village without being seen.

The Tormentor was another story however. It's massive size would made it easily seen from even the top of the nearing cliffs. There was no way the creature could hide from the view of any of the village's guards. Or so the team thought.

When the team finally made it to the very small valley, the Stalkers took to darting from behind large rocks and fallen boulders to hide from any ninja that might be guarding the passage. The Tormentor had instead taken to actually climbing the walls of one of the cliff faces and, using a strength that impressed even Kakashi, hauled itself over the edge and out of site.

The team had to remember; ninja in this world were trained to detect the living, no matter the size or potential threat. The dead were not usually the focus for anybody guarding their beloved home.

Naruto trusted that the beast would follow his orders and not be seen. He really did not want to, but the young boy also gave the order for his creatures to take care of anyone that might see them. With what he could do, there would not be any evidence of what would happen if the undesired were to occur.

The Leave team was able to reach the village gates without any trouble and were quickly let in when they showed their ID and the reason for their visit. The guards at the gate was sure to warn the ninja that they were going to be followed and watched over during the duration of their visit. It was not a threat, it was what every ninja village did whenever an outside soldier would enter a village. Just a precaution.

They did miss the two Stalkers quickly bolt into the village and hide among the alleys of the stone buildings that made up most of the village.

Naruto's team made a beeline for the Kazekage's Tower. Since none of the children had seen any other village besides their own, seeing building made mostly from sand and stone as apposed to the plaster and wood of their own was an almost alien concept.

The various homes and stores appeared to be almost growing out of the ground and their shapes and designs allowed for very little sunlight to actually enter the buildings while allowing as much air and wind inside as possible.

The villagers that the group passed all gave the Leave ninja either shocked, amazed, or cautious looks. Seeing any nonnative ninja within one's village was not usually a good sign.

"Let's just get this over with." Sasuke mumbled as a few young girls pointed in his direction. At least the giggling that came from them was not due to knowledge about his clan and probably more form his looks. Sasuke knew he was hot.

"Yeah," A drained Naruto groaned while wiping a large amount of sweat from his forehead. From the moment that they had entered the village, he could fill his guest stir. There was something within the village that was making it very excited. But what?

It was no secret that nearly all the hidden ninja villages once had a tailed beast chained within a host of some sort. That is, until Naruto's guest consumed them and nearly destroyed the very Earth that he was currently standing on. So what was making the monster so excited?

The Kazekage's Tower was a bit different then the Hokage's. For one, it was less of a traditional tower, and more of a giant ball of sand with windows in various places to indicate the number of floors it had.

Standing outside the very entrance of the tower was a ninja wearing a head wrap that had a portion of the cloth concealing one half of his scowling face. His expression could easily rival Sasuke's own normal scowl. The man stood as tall as Kakashi and radiated the same strength and experience that Kakashi did. He was no joke.

The Leave ninja came to a halt in front of the man. He glared down at the youth before looking directly as Kakashi; his expression worsening. His posture was almost begging for the gray-haired Leave ninja to start something. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity as the Sand ninja's scowl worsened and Kakashi just looked nearly unconcerned.

"Follow me." The Sand ninja growled before leading the Leave shinobi into the Kazekage's Tower. The team was quickly lead through the building directly to the Kazekage's office. The Sand jonin opened the office door, bowed at the man inside before stepping aside and letting the Leave shinobi inside before steeping in behind them.

The office was not unlike the Hokage's in fact, it was exactly the same except stone and rock replaced the wood. Except for the desk. The desk was wood.

The Kazekage was a relatively young looking man. His expression was just as hard as the leader of a slowly failing village would be while his short grey hair showed the amount of stress his body had to endure.

There was someone else in the office as well though. A young boy that could not have been any older then Naruto with red hair, dark eyes and a red tattoo on his forehead. The boy's expression was nothing short of emotionally dead.

The boy turned his head looked at the intruders before locking his eyes on each of the Leave genin. A nearly visible tremor shook Sakura while Sasuke glared daggers at the youth.

When the red headed youth looked at Naruto; both locked eyes for what felt like eons, but was only less then a split second.

Naruto suddenly lurched forward and had to reach out and grab Sasuke's shoulder as support as he clenched a hand over his twisting and contorting stomach. His guest was _very_ excited.

"Is there a problem?" The Kazekage asked in a very. irritated tone of voice.

Naruto fought against the pain in his gut and tried to stand as straight as he possibly could. "None." He was barely even able to answer. He had to close one of his eyes as it had started to bleed.

The village leader gave the Leave ninja a hard look before turning back to the red head. "You may leave." He looked at the Sand jonin. "Ibiki; escort Gaara and his team to the training grounds and begin training for a mission I have planned for you all." He pulled a scroll out from one of his sleeves and handed it to Gaara. "The specifics are in there."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage." The jonin now recognized as Ibiki said with a low bow before looking at the red head. Said youth had not taken his eyes of Naruto while still expressing the same dead look. After a few moments of silence, Gaara looked away and walked between Sasuke and Naruto; both Leave ninja giving their own mental opinion on the red Sand ninja.

When the two left; the Kazekage finally turned his full attention to the Leave ninja. "What do I owe this unexpected visit." He nearly growled.

Kakashi stepped forward. "Lord Kazekage, you should have received a message a few days ago of our impending arrival with this." He pulled out the scroll the Hokage had handed him.

"That I have." He glanced at the scroll being held out to him. "Now answer me why I should bother taking some little note your _great_ Hokage has decided to write me? Why should I not have you all held here as prisoners for infiltrating my land?"

"What?" Naruto nearly shouted. "We traveled all the way from the Leave Village just so you can act like some stuck up snob?" Naruto was a bit upset. "You knew we were coming and you knew you had a message for you. Don't act like we are catching you my surprise by being here."

"Uzumaki!" Kakashi shouted in the most authoritative voice any of his genin had ever heard him. Naruto was instantly silent and standing at full attention; the pain in his gut having left at the same time as the red head.

"You Leave shinobi need to learn when to curb your tongue." The Kazekage stated coldly before reaching out and reluctantly taking the scroll from Kakashi. "You may take your leave. I'll have a response to your _precious_ Hokage by tomorrow. I will a send a team to escort you back here." He placed the scroll on the desk and went about writing something.

Naruto wanted to argue, but a hard pinch in the side from Sakura warned him against it.

The Leave shinobi all gave a bow before leaving the office; where Naruto promptly started to mumble angrily about not being respected as a real ninja.

The team was escorted out of the building by a city guard and were left to their own devices.

"Alright." Kakashi said while clapping his hands together. "I think this is a good opportunity for you all to learn how to mingle with the civilians of an allied village."

"What?" Sasuke nearly barked in confusion.

"You'll figure it out." Kakashi said before handing each of his students a slip of paper. "On that is the location of where we will be staying as well as a time I would like for us all to group up for a headcount."

And with that, the jonin vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"I think he just ditched us." Naruto said blankly.

"'Learn how to mingle'." Sakura quoted in a very annoyed tone. "What are we? Some brand new academy kids?" She growled. She was going to have to have a nice long conversation with Kakashi about treating _her_ like some little brat.

Without much more conversation; the three genin went about exploring the Village Hidden in the Sands on their own.

Naruto wandered around a bit without any real idea of what to do. He could risk training her for fear that the village guards would take that act as some sort of attack on their home. He also could not go to the location Kakashi's little note specified because the young lad knew he'd just be more bored cooped up then anything else.

While wondering through the village, the heat from the afternoon sun beat down just as relentlessly within the village as it did out in the surrounding desert. Using his sleeve to wipe away the gathered perspiration on his forehead, Naruto noticed the lack of people outside despite the fact that he was currently on a street lined with countless open shops.

The few people he did see moved about steadfast and without delay.

"Hey kid!" A gruff voice shouted from nearby. Naruto looked around a bit before seeing a large scared man standing outside of a shop. "What are you doing outside at a time like this? Get in here!"

Naruto gave the man a confused look before taking the invitation and walked into the building only to discover that it was a simple bar.

"Well I guess that sells it." An attractive looking woman sitting directly at the bar said with a smirk before taking a large drag from her cigarette. "As if the fact he was standing out there wasn't evidence enough; your from the Leaf Village aren't you?"

"Yeah." Naruto said while taking a seat at the bar. Being a ninja gave the young warrior the same rights as a full grown adult civilian, he could drink, own land and even marry right this very moment and there was nothing anyone could legally do to stop him. It was one of the few recognized laws that every nation shared.

The old man just gave Naruto a glass of water instead of any of his booze though. Drinking in the middle of a hot day was fun for no one.

Naruto mumbled a thanks.

"It's alright kid. From the looks of ya' I'd wager a guess this is your first time in our lovely village. That and you were wandering outside in the middle of the day."

Naruto just looked at the man.

"You see hun." The woman spoke up. "The village because unbearably hot during the middle of the day to the late afternoon. No one with any common sense would dare to take a step outside those doors. Hell, some of the village guards feel the need to take a step inside during this time of day."

"I see." Naruto said before taking a drink. He looked outside and could see the waves of heat radiate from nearly every surface. Just looking outside made the boy feel like sweating. Turning back to his drink, Naruto's thoughts went to what happened in the Kazekage's office.

The pain he had felt was like nothing he had ever experienced before in his young life. It had felt like something was trying to claw it's way out of his stomach.

The boy unconsciously placed a hand over his gut. While he was lost in thought and the two other occupants of the store chatted; a loud crash from the back of the store gave everyone a jump.

"Hey!" The bar owner shouted. "Whose back there?" Before making his way to the back. Naruto watched the man carefully; an idea of what had made the noise held firmly within his mind.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited for what felt like almost an hour before the man came back grumbling about how some ninja shouldn't let their dogs go stray.

"Those stray ones again?" The smoking woman asked while crossing her legs.

"Yeah," The man huffed heavily before looking at Naruto. "You don't use dogs do you boy?"

Naruto looked at the man, thinking about what to say before answering. "No. Not dogs."

"Good." The man said with a nod before continuing with whatever he had been doing. "Too many ninja here get dogs from the other countries and just decide that they can't handle them and let them go stray. Do you know how strong a ninja trained dog is? The damn thing knocked down my back door."

A bad feeling suddenly washed over Naruto. It had just dawned on him that he had lost control while in the office. During that short outburst his guest had caused; his field of influence exploded to a radius he really did not want to think about.

Unfortunately, Naruto could already feel a new member of the family wandering around the alleys of the Village Hidden within the Sands. He just hoped it could understand his orders to stay out of sight.

When the sun had gone down enough to not be seen past the massive cliff walls that surrounded the village; Naruto gave his thanks to the bar owner before taking his leave. It was still hotter then he was expecting though.

Seeing as it was now nearing the time Kakashi had specified that they should meet, Naruto started to head in the direction of the place the group would be staying. Or at least the direction he _hoped_ the place would be.

It was only when he noticed the actual hotel did Naruto hear an all too familiar declaration of war.

"Hey! Watch it pal!" Haruno Sakura shouted at a completely dressed in black figure. There was a strangely wrapped object with a spot of hair strapped to his back. He appeared to have a small group of what could only be assumed as friends with him.

"What did you say? Girly?" The individual asked before turning around to reveal the purple war paint on his face as well as the headband signifying him as a ninja of the Sand village.

"What did you just call me!?" Sakura's already short fuse just got lit.

"Oh look." One of the group members, a young male ninja from the village. "She's one of those uptight snobs from the Leaf." He pointed out with a sneer.

"Your right." Another said as the group slowly began to move around Sakura. "Bet she's used to being treated as some sort of princess. Like royalty."

"Bet she's never thrown a punch in her life. Look at that stupid pink hair."

"What should we do with her?" One of them looked at the black-suited kid. "Kankuro?"

"Now boys." The now identified Kankuro started. "You should know, we are allies with their snotty a elite village. It would not do if we got into a tussle with one of their ninja." His tone held no sincerity.

Naruto was already making his way over to help his teammate. He was about to make a clone to go alert the rest of his team about the developing conflict; but something told him that was not necessary.

One of the boy's smirked. "But isn't there a hole in that little rule?"

"Oh yes?" Kankuro acted as if he had forgotten that detail. "Leaf ninja are not to harm those of the Sand. The law never says anything about the other way around." He pulled the object off his back and placed it on the ground while holding it up with one hand.

"So you can't throw even a single punch, girly without risk of persecution." The sand ninja chuckled. "However we can."

Sakura did not say anything. What the Sand ninja had said were true and if she were to try to retaliate in any physical way, she would be the one persecuted for breaking a treaty. She would be lucky to get jail time and not end up on an executioners chopping block.

A small crowd had formed around the ninja. Several of the civilians and ninja that made up the crowd cheered the aggressive boys on while the other half tried to defuse the situation nonviolently. Unfortunately, more ninja were anti-Leaf then pro.

Even when the village guard arrived upon the scene and demanded an explanation of the situation; they saw no problem in what was about to happen and simply took to the rooftops to observe from above.

It was only upon Naruto pushing his way through the small throng of people did an idea pop in his head.

"Looks like we gotta' put on a show now." One of the goons almost cackled.

"Wonder what kind of show they want." Another smirked while looking Sakura up and down. "I say we give both." He advanced towards Sakura with a hand out, ready to grab her arm and begin a potential nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6

**Living Decay  
**

Chapter 6

* * *

The gang member's hand grasped Sakura by the wrist.

"Stop!" Naruto shouted. But it was too late, Sakura had already raised her fist up and slammed it so hard into the boy's face that there was no question that his skull had cracked in at least several different places. Needless to say, the boy was not getting up anytime soon.

Sakura turned her head back to her attackers; her eyes were completely white while veins visibly popped along her arms and forehead.

"No one touches me!" She shouted as chakra visibly formed around her still held up hand.

"Yo-you can't do that!" Another gang member shouted while stepping away. "You'll be arrested!"

"You wanna' try to take me in?" Sakura threatened while slamming her fists together with enough force to cause the sand she was standing on to be pushed away. The display was enough to cause even the city guard to hesitate before leaping down and surrounding the young Leave ninja.

Due to his shouting, Naruto too was surrounded by Sand guards and was forced over to Sakura.

"You come to this village as guests and attack our ninja." A guard spoke calmly. "You have broken the treaty between our two village and will be punished for your transgressions."

Despite not actually having done anything, Naruto did not argue. He would not be able to live with himself if Sakura were to take the full blunt of the punishment.

The boy's eye slowly widened when he realized something dreadful. Sakura glanced at the boy and quickly realized the reason behind his terrified expression.

"Told you that you'd be the ones punished." Kankuro laughed while putting his strangely wrapped object on his back once again.

The circle of city guards got closer and were about to grab the pair before a voice rang out.

"What the Hell is going on here?" The voice was clearly female and held enough authority to cause the city guards to back away slightly.

"T-Temari." Kankuro looked mortified by the arrival of the still unseen individual. "What are you doing here?"

The person pushed her way past the guards. "Shut it Kankuro!" She snapped. The woman looked at the two Leaf ninja and at the gang members that were still standing around.

"You started this; didn't you?" Temari said while looking over to Kankuro.

"O-Of course not sis." The kid was sweating quiet heavily now, and not from the desert heat.

Temari pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before looking at the two Leaf ninja once again. She only glanced at Sakura, but her vision stuck at Naruto for a brief moment longer then expected.

"He's pretty cute." She mumbled to herself before unconsciously patting her skirt to rid it of any dirt. She cleared her throat before speaking again.

"I am very sorry about what my idiot brother just put you through." Here words sounded genuine. "I understand that there is much tension between our homes but that is no excuse for my brother and his little friends' behavior." She shot said Sand ninja a nasty glare.

"Hey!" Kankuro shouted. "That girl was the one who started it." He tried to desperately defend himself. It did not work.

"Lady Temari." One of the village guard addressed the much younger ninja. "Despite what Lord Kankuro might have done, the female Leaf ninja did retaliate violently and, according to the laws specified within the treaty between our two lands, she must be punished for her actions."

Temari looked from the village guard to the Leaf shinobi then back again. "Did he do anything?" She asked while gesturing towards Naruto.

It took a moment for the guard to respond. "He did try to interfere with the conflict between the female Leaf shinobi and Lord Kankuro's friends. Most likely to protect his comrade and potentially escalating the issue. He too will be brought in for potentially creating conflict between the two villages, just as she will be." The man paused. "You may be the Kazekage's daughter, but even you do not have the power to defy the laws of the treaty."

Temari tried to think of a counter to the guard's words, but nothing came to mind.

"What kind of mess have you two gotten yourselves into this time?" A very annoyed voice groaned out from a nearby roof. None other then Kakashi and Sasuke could be seen standing atop the building. Both with varying degrees of irritation etched onto their faces.

"These shinobi of the Leaf have violated the treaty between our two villages and must be punished." The same guard replied. "If you make any attempt to interfere, then you too will receive an adequate punishment."

The man turned back to Naruto and Sakura before reaching out for the Uzumaki. "Do not struggle and the punishment will be over quicker." With his other hand, the man pulled out a cat-o-nine tails.

Sakura's eyes widened. Such a barbaric tool was about to be used against them. Her back already hurt at just the thought of the vicious tool splitting her skin.

The guard motioned for a couple of his fellows to grab and hold onto Naruto; forcing him to the ground and tearing his jacket, shirt, and combat mesh away from his young body. Ropes come out from within their cloaks and wrapped around the boy's wrists before they backed away enough to not accidentally be hit by the multi-tailed whip. Another pair took hold of Sakura and pulled her a short distance away as well.

"Hey!" The boy verbally protested. "You could have just asked."

The guards ignored him while the main man tugged and flexed the torture tool. He looked at Naruto's bare back and could not hide the small smirk from gracing his lips. He had always wanted to do this to a filthy Leaf ninja.

"Look at what you've done!" Temari harshly whispered to her brother.

"I-I didn't think it would get this bad." Kankuro tried to defend himself uselessly. Temari was tempted to beat her idiotic brother to a pulp right then and there. She was just happy that her other brother; or father, was not around to see this. Their enjoyment of the incoming torture would only make the situation that much worse.

"You don't want to do this." Naruto warned with honest worry flowing from every word.

"You can't stop what will happen." The man chuckled softly.

"I can't." Naruto admitted. "But the second that thing touches me, you will be hunted down and torn apart." He stated. There was no malice in his words.

The man only chuckled a bit more at the boy's pathetic excuse for a threat.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi and could see a sadness within the jonin's eyes that he had never seen before. Whether it was directed at Naruto or at the incoming nightmare that was about to be unleashed; Naruto did not know.

A hush fell over the small crowd around the group of ninja; everyone anticipating the sound of the cracking whip. The man slowly raised the tool high above his head and held it there just to allow the boy to suffer in anticipation for when the punishment may begin.

"He' 'ee." A retching, screeching voice cried out from a nearby dark alley. Due to the near complete silence of the surrounding area, it was almost impossible to not hear the sounds of gurgling and retching that accompanied the voice. Or at least what sounded like a voice.

A heavily cloaked figure stumbled out from the alley. The aged black cloak completely hid the figure's body while also showing signs of what appeared to be burn damage and several tears and holes that did not appear to come from any tool or weapon. Burn marks could be seen on every one.

The figure stumbled closer to the group while their upper body lurched unnaturally. All the while making the same gurgling and retching sounds.

The torturer sighed heavily before lowing his weapon. He recognized the cloak as being from a disgraced shinobi of the village. The man was once revered by the village as a war hero during the Great Shinobi War but several very unfortunate events lead to him losing not only his entire squad, but his wife and daughter as well; but the later was due to his excessive drinking. The man was almost never sober and had visited the hospital so many times do to alcohol poisoning that he had his own permanent room in the building. The worst part was that he and the drunk used to be great friends.

"I do not have the time for you!" The torturer shouted at the man.

The figure continued to stumble forward as if not hearing the man. The other ninja stepped aside to allow the individual to approach their squad leader. They had been ordered to only allow their leader to interact with the drunkered as the man would refuse to listen to anybody else; even while inebriated, the man was still a skillful ninja that could easily end them long before they would even have a chance to move.

The figure came to a slouched halt in front of the leader.

"What do you want?" The man almost snarled. The only reply he got was more gurgling and retching.

"Stay away from him." Naruto warned from his still down position.

The man glared down at the boy before lifting his foot up and planting it firmly against the back of the boy's head before pushing the boy's head down into the sand.

The cloaked figure gurgled and croaked loudly before stumbling forward towards the squad leader with it's arms out in front of it.

"What the?" The man was caught off guard but was able to shove the man away. "The Hell is wrong with you?!"

The shove caused the figure to stumble back a bit. When it did, a sickly green, dark red, and off-white fluid splashed out from underneath the hood. The fluid landed mostly on the figure's cloak, causing it to his and quickly dissolve the material that it had come into contact with.

The squad leader slowly pulled out a kunai. "What's wrong with you?" He asked slowly.

The figure snarled.

"Stop fooling around!" The squad leader shouted before quickly reaching forward, snatching the cloak and ripping it away from the drunk man.

Only, there was no man underneath the cloak. What stood there was best described as living gore.

The legs were completely skinless with the muscles, nerves and tendons twisting around the unexposed bone. The feet were nothing more then two toed extensions fo the legs. There was not skin on the entire front torso of the creature; nor where there any muscle. Hell, the sternum was completely gone with the ribs being completely exposed.

Unlike Naruto's other creations; this monster still had all of it's organs. Only they were all enlarged and the same color as the fluid that had come out it earlier. Every organ was now connected to the creature's enlarged lungs.

The monster's arms only had loose hanging flesh half-haphazardly wrapped around twisted muscle and bone with hands that wielded the same long, manipulative clawed hands that the Stalker's possessed.

It's head had no hair to speak of. Empty eye sockets, a missing nose and a jaw that was melted and fused to the exposed trachea where all that remained of the individual that the creature had once been.

"That's not your friend anymore." Naruto said solemnly. "He's a Puker now."

The man glared down at Naruto's exposed back. "What did you do to him!?" Without a second thought, the man raised his whip and quickly brought it down hard on Naruto's back with a loud crack.

The world appeared to stop for a moment, as if even the universe could not contemplate how stupid a mistake the man had just made.

"Oh no." Sakura whispered.

A yellow light appeared from deep within the Puker's eyes at it let loose a horrendous gurgling scream while charging towards the squad leader. The man easily jumped back, only to have a silently charging Stalker slam it's skull against the man's back, sending him to the ground. Screams and shouted ripped out from the crowd as the realization of what was happening finally dawned on them.

The other Sand ninja drew their weapons and made to help their ally only for something very large to land on a nearby roof with a heavy crash.

The Tormentor looked down at the crowd before lowering it's head and letting out a terrifying roar while raising one of it's massive arms and slamming it down on the ground below in anger.

The second Stalker rushed out from it's hiding place and charged at the ninja that were still holding him down.

The monsters were all working together to keep the enemy ninja away from their living Marker. Even with their lack of numbers, they were doing a very good job.

The squad leader did not even have time to register what had just happened before a pair of twisted hands grabbed him and turned him on his back. He reached for another kunai when the Tormentor's massive arm slammed down on him and pinned him to the ground effortlessly.

Needless to say, all of the noise attracted the Kazekage's attention and the man was on the scene just moments after the Tormentor's loud arrival. He did not say any words as he watched the event unfold. The other ninja quickly surrounded their leader in a defensive formation; even though the monsters did not appear to show any interest in the man at all. They only appeared to care about the man that had struck the young blond Leaf ninja.

Despite being pinned down, the squad leader was still able to draw a kunai and proceeded to stab the weapon into the thick armored hide of the Tormentor; to no effect.

The arms from earlier reached down and held the man's arms down. He looked up to see the Puker knelled down t his head; staring down at him with those tiny yellow pinpricks that all of the monster's now sported. The same fluid from earlier dripped from the hole where the mouth should have been.

The droplets that his the man's flesh sizzled and hissed as they burned away flesh; causing the man to grit his teeth in pain.

The two Stalkers, seeing that their master was no longer in danger, made their way over to the pinned man and each held an arm down. Freeing the Puker from having to do so.

Kakashi was astounded. These creatures, without being directed by their creator, were able to work together in ways that not even highly trained ninja were able to. They were able to work together to not insure Naruto's protection, but to take out a target without missing a beat. Using their unique abilities, no matter how different from each other they might be, to eliminate a threat. And he was about to witness the elimination.

The Sand ninja still tried to struggle against the much stronger creatures, only to have his head held still by the Puker's own clawed hands. He felt the creature pull at his jaw and tried to keep it shut to the best of his ability; this ultimately failed however and his mouth was forced wide open.

Naruto stood up and rubbed his wrists as blood started to pour from his left eye. He found his body calmly walk over to the prone man as his eye changed into the red, marked stone it had back at the academy.

"You made a very poor mistake." His mouth spoke, but Naruto did not make it do that. His voice was calm, almost friendly. As if anger, hate or animosity simply did not exist within the range of his voice. His other eye began to bleed.

Sakura was scared. This was not Naruto. This was not her friend. This was something else. Something that was not natural, not right. It was using Naruto, his body was clearly not his own anymore. A horrid thought crossed her mind. What if the being within him had taken over? What if Naruto's mind was now dead and gone?

"One is never meant to strike a god." The friendly tone made the words more unsettling then they should have been. Naruto could not stop them from pouring from his mouth.

"Even an incomplete god is still something that should be honored and respected until he can be made whole again." Naruto's head looked down at the man before looking at his creations.

"You need to be punished." No malice or hate could be found in any of his words. "But do not worry. You will still be of use...In making us whole."

The Puker leaned it's head back. It's organs constricted as it's lungs expanded to the point of pushing the already exposed rips that much further away from the body. With a horrific retching gurgle, the creature poured it's caustic fluid directly onto the man's face from the hole where it's mouth should have been. The man tried to struggle away to no avail as the bile entered his mouth and traveled down into his lungs and stomach. The pain was instant.

Once the creature's lungs were empty. The creatures all let go of the man, stepped back and watched as he rolled onto his hands and knees and retched violently. A combination of the Puker's bile, blood and organ tissue poured from his vomiting mouth. His tongue, teeth soon followed before his body would shut down due to the sever trauma. Even in death, the bile dissolved away his innards, with his abdomen, jaw and a majority of his face.

"See?" Naruto's voice said almost gleefully. "Now you are useful to us." He leaned back as the tattoo on his stomach glowed a violent red before spinning rapidly. Several massively thick, red tentacles slowly emerged from within the quickly spinning tattoo; grasped the man's corpse before slowly dragging it directly into the tattoo. The body vanishing within without any sign of resistance.

Naruto sighed happily.

"I think I will look over that letter again." The Kazekage mumbled to himself before addressing his soldiers. "Those Leaf ninja and their...things are to be left alone for the extend of their stay here. Understood?"

The ninja nodded before going about to try and disperse the crowd. The Kazekage vanished on a cloud of sand.

His head motioned to look up. Sakura; seeing what was about to happen, quickly rushed forward and covered Naruto's eyes with her hands.

"What are you doing Pink One?" Naruto asked with a smile. "We were just going to ask for volunteers. It would help us to become whole once more."

"Naruto." Kakashi addressed the boy with his authoritative tone. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, Masked One." Naruto said in a cheerfully friendly voice. "The Whiskered One is here, but we decided to enjoy the small amount of freedom while we were given the chance. He can see and hear what we do, but can not do anything."

"Fine." Sakura said while still covering Naruto's eyes. The boy's body made no motion to try and remove her hands. "Then who are you?"

"We are a god. Did we not already say that?" He asked genuinely. "You may call us simply Brother if you wish. We came to this world to feed a short while ago, but your kind was somehow able to take away our body and trap us within the Whiskered One. It has been mildly irritating until recently when we were finally able to make our pawns." He paused for a moment. "But a living Marker has never existed before and it has given our pawns their own minds. A tad unexpected if anything else. Needless to say, we plan on eventually breaking free and reforming our body."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Sasuke snarked. "A true god would never allow themselves to be trapped. Let alone trapped within a dunce like Naruto."

"We have not figured out a way to break free as of yet. But we plan on using this planet to reform our body." He paused once again. "It seems our time is over. The Whiskered One's will is breaking our control. It was very nice speaking to you and I do hope that your corpses do not decay away before we can use you to make our body whole once again." He went silent.

"Sakura?" Naruto's usual toned voice returned. "Can you please take hands off?" His voice was slightly panicked.

When she did, Naruto quickly turned his head and vomited.

The Stalkers and Tormentor made concerned groans and coos at their master's obviously strange actions; while the Puker stood confused as to why it's master's bile did not cause the same smoking and hissing it's own did.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, her voice stiff.

"S-Sorry about that." He chuckled embarrassingly while wiping his mouth. It was a bit of a mess.

He turned his head only to receive a swift punch on the cheek. Before he could even react to the attack however, Sakura's arms quickly wrapped around the boy's neck as tears streamed down her own own cheeks.

"Don't you ever let that thing take over again." She demanded softly. She did not want to loose her friend. Especially to an entity that could reform the dead. She did not bawl or even hiccup; Sakura just let the tears silently fall and soak into Naruto's bare shoulder. She had no concern that she was hugging a half naked boy.

"You had a us scared there for a moment Naruto." Kakashi said with a relieved sigh. He had been just as terrified as Sakura when the entity had taken over Naruto. He had already failed the boy's father once before in his life; he could not do it again.

Sasuke gave just a grunt. His own way of showing that he was at least slightly concerned as well.

"Um, pardon me." A voice from behind spoke up. It was Temari and her younger brother Kankuro being dragged by his ear.

"I don't really know what's going on. But my brother would like to say something." She gave Kankuro's ear a hard tug. "Don't you?"

"Owowowowowow. Jeez, I'm sorry already." He grumbled before his sister let go of his ear.

"Your Temari right?" Sakura asked after she let go of Naruto and wiped her eyes free from her tears. "Thanks for trying to help earlier." She said with a polite bow.

"It was not like I actually did anything." The Sand ninja turned her attention to Naruto. "More importantly, are you alright? How is your back?"

Admits everything that had happened, everyone had forgotten that all of it had started because that man had slashed Naruto's back with that cat o' nine tails.

Naruto turned around to show the group his back; where the whip had broken the skin in several places, allowing blood to drip down his back.

His creations all gave low groans of worry and concern. Their Marker was not supposed to bleed.

"Is it bad?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

"Not a bit." Kankuro said sarcastically. Only to get a bop on the head from his sister. "This is your fault you know. You could at least pretend to act at least a tiny bit apologetic.

Sakura sent the male Sand ninja a nasty glare before pulling out a special healing ointment and some gauze and bandages. She soaked the gauze in the ointment before using the bandages to hold them over the wounds.

"Thanks Sakura." Naruto said before walking over to his Tormentor and grabbing his back out from the within the beast's empty chest cavity. The team had been using the creature as a sort of pack mule during their travels.

He pulled out another mesh shirt, t-shirt and a jacket before redressing.

"These are some impressive beasts you have here." Kankuro said while admiring the Tormentor.

"Very." Temari said nervously as a Stalker sniffed and circled around her. The other was currently trying to understand what the bandages on Naruto's were.

"Oh." Temari just remembered. "Father decided to have no actions taken against you all and asked for me to apologize for the entire event." A small smirk formed on her lips. She motioned for Naruto to come closer.

The boy looked back at Kakashi for guidance, who only gave him his unique eye smile as an answer to his unasked question. Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

Naruto walked closer to Temari. The woman leaned down slightly to whisper in the boy's ear.

"I will be participating in the Chunin Exams this year. I would like to see you there." She whispered.

Naruto looked at her for a moment before branding his trademark smile. "You bet I'll be there. You can also bet that I'll be the first one to make it to chunin too.

Temari smirked. The boy clearly did not get the hidden meaning in her words, but his positive demeanor did not detour her from trying to at least get a date with the blonde. He seemed like he could be fun.

She and her brother took their leave, allowing for Kakashi's team to make for their hotel. Naruto's creations went back to hiding among the buildings of the village once again.

As they all took their leave, they were all unaware of the red-headed figure standing a top the Kazekage's Tower.

Gaara had seen everything.

The night was uneventful. It was odd for the Leaf ninja however, the lack of chirping crickets was not something that they were used to.

The next day, the team went to the Kazekage's Tower and were hastily given the village leader's reply to the scroll they had given him the day before. The man's eyes did not leave Naruto's form for even a moment during the quick exchange.

With what they needed in hand. The ninja team left the village without any interruption. Hell, after a few days of uneventful travel, the team arrived at their home village without so much as a hint of trouble.

Needless to say, seeing the Puker and Tormentor being added as new members of the village was unnerving to those that were still not used to Naruto's undead creations.

The Tormentor tried to enter the Hokage Tower, and was saddened when it was unable to fit through the human made door.

The ninja team handed the Hokage the scroll they had been given by the Kazekage before each giving their own mission reports. After, the genin all went their own way, leaving Kakashi with the village leader.

"So, I assume you knew something like that was going to happen?" Kakashi asked his leader.

"Maybe not that exactly, but yes." Sarutobi admitted. "It has been difficult for us to be able to get even the smallest of a response from our supposed ally and the only other alternative would have been by using invasive force. Using Naruto's beasts to scare them was the only other method of obtaining an answer." He looked at the contents of the scroll. "It does not hurt they it also helped gain an answer I actually wanted."

Kakashi did not respond.

"Give your team a few days to rest up. I'll have another mission for you by the time you are ready. Telling Naruto that it is another C ranked mission might speed up his recovery." Sarutobi paused for a moment. "And please have him visit the hospital _without_ his beasts. They get too excited around so many sick and injured."

* * *

"Wow! That's amazing Hinata!" Naruto shouted as he watched Hinata finish a new fighting technique she had developed on her last mission.

The boy went straight to his favorite food bar and met his lavender-eyed friend there. The two talked for a bit before Naruto demanded he witness Hinata's new abilities.

"Thank you, Naruto." Her heated face was enough to hide her slight blush at the praise. "Now it's your turn. Tell me about your mission."

Naruto did, all the while smiling big and occasionally petting the Tormentor's head. He obviously left out the part about loosing control, but told the girl just about everything else. He failed to notice her slight facial twitch when he told her about what how strange a girl Temari was.

Besides that, Hinata sat quietly and listened to Naruto's happy voice. His smile warming her in ways no one else ever could. She did wish that the Puker would stop trying to touch her developing breasts. It was the strangest thing. She had slapped the creature's hand away from her chest at least a half dozen times already.

The creature was just being curious to why she only had two bile processing organs. Such an ineffective system. She would only have enough to possibly take down one, maybe two targets before running out and being forced to attack with her claw-less arms. The creatures it had been created from were strange.

Naruto and Hinata sat and talked about what Naruto might have missed while he was gone. Apparently someone had tried to break into Naruto's apartment while he was gone. The village only found out recently when the man had not been seen for several days. They found his corpse partially fused with the Corruption growing inside Naruto's closet. The Slasher had made short work of the man as what wounds could be seen where all piercing wounds originating from the back.

It would appear the leaving the Slasher as his house guard was a good idea after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

Their Marker was a strange one. For one it was a living male of creatures that they were made from instead of the traditional stone pillar that every other Marker before had been. It spoke many words of a language that was unknown to them, yet was still able to give orders that were able to override their basic mental programing. It also did not allow for them to kill and grow their family despite the massive number of moving bodies that nearly surrounded them every day. Only the still corpses were allowed to be used. Not even when in the hot place were they allowed to grow the family. Their Marker had even stolen away the one living corpse they had punished for harming it before it could be made it into a more useful form.

Their Marker was a strange one.

But, their Marker gave them something they never had before. Thought, purpose beyond pain; an actual existence. Before their Marker, they had only known slaughter, death, rebirth. An endless loop of ending and recreation without any sign of ending. No thought, emotion or communication beyond kill all, then converge into one. Their creators, the entity trapped within their Marker, was selfish. Wanting to make more of its kind. Using them to make itself and others. Using the Markers it created to create more and more, going from world to world.

Their Marker was not selfish. Something about it changed their dead minds. They could think beyond simply killing and creating more. They had their own minds, their own personalities. They may not have the minds of those they had once been, or even have any idea who or what they were before becoming what they were now; but they had their own thoughts, their own sense of being.

And that was enough for them to protect and care for their specific Marker unlike any that had ever existed before. The aggression they had shown when the one human had assaulted their Marker was not due to some uncontrollable signal they were not able to resist, but their collective desire to protect their master, not the Marker.

They feared what would happen if he were to die or lose control to the entity contained within them. They did not want to lose their free-ish will or the one being that appeared to genuinely care for them.

"See?" Naruto started to brag. "I told you that bringing them would be a good idea." He and his team were currently traveling with an old, and slightly hung-over, bridge builder named Tazuna. The man had requested for a team of ninja to escort him safely to his home in the Land of Waves; promising that the only thing they would have to worry about was bandits.

But, upon seeing the team that was assigned to him, the old man, in a still semi-drunkin' state, moaned and complained relentlessly long before they had even reached the Leaf Village's main gates. Even with Naruto's two normal escorts coming along, the man was simply not satisfied with what protection he had been given. The Slasher was left as house guard and the Puker's bile could cause a greatly negative impact on the environment of the Land of Waves; so both were left in the village.

Tazuna's complaining tone quickly changed however when Naruto decided to introduce the man to the Tormentor. Now, Tazuna refused to make any negative remarks about the group for fear of the massive beast.

Upon the group's travel to the Land of Waves, they were ambushed by a pair of rouge Land of Wave ninja known as the Demon Brothers. I should say, _would_ have been ambushed if the Tormentor had not slammed it's arm into a blatantly obvious puddle in the middle of the road. The combination of the two Stalkers and Kakashi was more then enough to take the two ninja down. Sadly, Kakashi let the two men live; so no new family members much to the chagrin to the teams undead members.

"I'm not complaining." Tazuna stated almost quietly while taking a swig from a bottle he was holding. Naruto shot the man an angry glare. He had the gall to say that after all the moaning and whining he had been doing just a few hours ago.

After the failed ambush, Kakashi had demanded an answer for why two notorious rouge ninja would ambush a group of genin and an old bridge builder. When Tazuna had refused to give a straight answer, Kakashi threatened to leave the man their and simply return home. He sang like a canary.

Apparently, the rouge ninja were sent by an infamous businessman/crime lord by the name of Gato. Over the course of a few years, the businessman had bought out nearly every business within Tazuna's home village and had forced the village to rely completely on any and all shipments that belonged to him. Not too bad until they learned of the heavy taxation on imports and costly decrease in the village's own goods along with other cliched criminal wrongdoings that Gato went about performing. The man also had every bridge connecting the small water-bound village to the mainlands destroyed so as too keep his control over the village absolute.

Tazuna had decided enough was enough and had begun building a massive bridge that would both too large for Gato to destroy without being noticed by the larger settlements within the Land of Waves while also being used as a main access to the mainlands. With such a massive bridge came a large number of villages that joined in it's construction, making it's destruction that much harder. It was only by a serious of threats, bribes, and the occasional hitman did the number of construction workers start to diminish.

Obviously, due to Gato's control over the village and nearly all of it's money, the entire village was only able to pool enough money to afford a genin team to help with their problem. The village was in such a pitiful state that they had no other choice.

Upon hearing all of this, Kakashi had ordered his team to return to the Hidden Leaf Village with a mission failure status. Unfortunately, Naruto being the gun-ho all around good guy he was, refused and the rest of the team was quick to relent to his stubborn decision to continue the mission.

This is where we find the group now, walking through the Land of Waves towards Tazuna's village.

"We will need to take a boat here." The old man said as a thick fog started to roll in across the ground. The group continued a bit before the sound of a boat motor reached their ears and they eventually saw a small boat waiting for them with a driver waving. The human members of the team climbed into the watercraft.

"Sorry." The boat driver said nervously. "But I can't carry...them across in this." Naruto looked back at his creations. They showed no signs of being upset.

"That's fine." He stated.

His team gave hims bizarre looks, Naruto was never without his Stalker escorts. The boat operator hesitantly started to drive the boat while everyone looked at their undead companions.

The second the boat began to move, the creatures stepped into the water and quickly vanished underneath the surface.

"I didn't know those things could swim." Sakura stated in surprise.

"Naruto looked at her." They can't.

"Wait." Sasuke decided to interject. "Then why did they get in the water? Did you just let them drown themselves for you?" He got slightly defensive, Naruto did not appear to be the kind of person that would take advantage of anyone's kindness; even if they were already dead.

"What? No." Naruto now looked confused. "They are dead." He stated the obvious.

"Clearly." Sasuke snarked.

"They don't need to breath **because** they are dead." Naruto snarked right back.

"Ah," Sakura realized with a clap of her hands. "They don't even have lungs or any of the gases the living have." She looked over the edge of the boat but could not see the creatures through the fog covered water. "So they are just walking along the bottom, right?"

"Yup." Naruto said with smiling nod.

Kakashi tried to hide his own interest in seeing the dead creatures walking under water and leaned over just a bit to glance over the edge as well.

"Gotta' go silent here." The boat driver said after a short while, cutting off the engine and letting the momentum carry them the rest of the way. Along the way, Tazuna pointed out the massive bridge that he was trying so hard to build for his village. They went right past it.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto harshly whispered at the boat operator.

"Dropping you all off here would be suicide!" He whisper-yelled right back. "I'm going to drop you off a short distance away from the village. I know the bridge is important and all, but I got a family to think about."

Naruto decided to remain silent.

The group was dropped off and the boatman took his leave; leaving to Tazuna announce that the group would simply have to follow the river to find the village. They only got about five steps into their traveling before a loud rustling put the team on edge. Naruto, being a bit more nervous then the others decided to take the initiative and threw a kunai into the bushes; only for a small rabbit to run out.

"A little jumpy there dork?" Sasuke poked fun.

"Shut up." An embarrassed Naruto shot back.

"Move!" Kakashi shouted while grabbing Tazuna and jumping back. Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his jacket and pulled him back just as a massive sword went sailing by where his head had just been. The blade quickly lodged itself into a nearby tree.

"This is not good." Kakashi bemoaned as he recognized the blade. Large with a big cut out near the guard and a circle close to the top along with a nasty looking curve at the very front; giving the blade its' infamous name as the Blade of the Executioner.

There was currently only one man that wielded the blade.

"Ah, look what I have stumbled upon here." A deep gravely voice boomed out from within the the thick fog. "A few Leaf greenies and the legendary White Fang of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. All together with my target?" The voice chuckled deeply. "Must be my birthday."

A tall man suddenly appeared standing on top of the still embedded sword. His skin was was an almost dead gray while his short hair was as black as an abyss. His mouth was covered by bandages and his village headband had a cut running horizontally through it; a sign that he was a rouge ninja.

"Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi almost whispered. Not out of fear but more just to let his team know what they were up against.

The infamous Demon of the Hidden Mist. One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. A threat to even the closest of allies. This was no longer a C-Ranked mission. It had gotten to the point where it was nearing S.

"I would normally ask for you all to just hand over the old man. But I got a feeling none of you are going to do that." Zabuza smirked underneath his wrappings as the Leave ninja all drew their own weapons and stood between him and his target. He leapt to the ground before yanking his massive sword out from the tree and putting it on his shoulder. His posture and body movements radiated pure confidence.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were visibly on edge. This was a legendary rouge ninja. Unpredictable and capable of anything. Their lives could end today and they had no idea how or when.

"I want you three to guard Tazuna while I handle this." Kakashi ordered before moving slightly forward so that he now stood between the blade-wielding ninja and his genin team.

"Sorry Kakashi." Naruto said. "But you taught us to work together to face any situation." He stepped forward next to his teacher. "That includes situations like this."

Naruto's words gave his team mates a small boost in confidence.

"Yeah." Sakura said while slamming her super-powered fists together. "What happened to that whole stick together and never letting friends down thing you spouted out a while ago if your just going to act all tough."

Sasuke just stepped forward. Excited to test his abilities against a real threat.

"Now it's getting more fun." Zabuza laughed as he performed a had sign and several walls of water appeared around the genin and the old bridge builder. "But I really want to see what the White-Fang of the Leave can do."

"Looks like I have no choice." Kakashi lifted his headband off of his usually covered eye to reveal a long vertical scar running through a bright red eye. The sharingan; the legendary and feared bloodline ability of the Uchiha family. Without another word; Kakashi rushed forward to engage the rouge ninja in deadly combat.

While the two adults clashed, Naruto and his fellow genin tried different ways to free themselves from the water prison.

"This technique usually only lasts about thirty minutes." Sakura mumbled to herself as she sat and thought.

"Damn it." Naruto swore as a barrage of his clones attacking one of the water walls appeared to do nothing. He continued to do everything he could think of to take down at least one of the whiles while Sasuke had quickly given up after nothing appeared to work.

"It can only be broken from the outside." Sakura stated. "Your just wasting energy and chakra now Naruto."

After a while; Naruto finally stopped. "Finally." He groaned.

Sakura was about to ask what he meant when an explosion caused by the two fighting adults drew their attention back to the fight.

Both Kakashi and Zabuza stood on the side of the lake; both performing the exact same hand signs. Kakashi looking as determined as ever to win and to protect his students. Zabuza, on the other hand, looked angry and frustrated.

"Stop copying me you damn ape!" The sword user roared as he completed his hand signs and a large dragon composed of water reared it's ugly head out from the lake. Kakashi did not respond and only did the exact same thing that Zabuza did; make a dragon of water appear from the lake.

Sasuke had watched the fight with rapt attention. This was the first time in a long time that he had a chance to see a real sharingan user actually use the power of his family's eye to such an extent.

The ability to copy any technique and use it perfectly as well as to predict what ones opponent is about to do. These are the qualities of that red eye that lead to the Uchiha clan's rise to power, until an unfortunate happened a few years ago that ended in the clan's near complete extermination.

Both adults finished another hand seal and the two water dragons reared back and prepared to dive head first at their respective enemy caster. Only, they did not. Their body's began to twitch and distort as something under the waves went through their form and interrupted the techniques.

This created enough of a distraction for Kakashi to leap in and initiate the attack.

A series of soft clicks brought the trapped genins' attention behind them. Naruto's two Stalkers had surfaced out of the water and were now trying to understand what their master was doing inside of the water box.

They tried pushing against it to no avail. They tried using their strong heads, but again, no results showed.

The two creatures looked at each other before running away.

"Where are they going?" Sasuke asked in a nearly condescending tone of voice. This just proved a thought the boy had swimming around in his head for a while. That thought being that Naruto's creatures where not as useful as they might appear to be. Since it appeared that they gave up so easily after only a few attempts at freeing their supposed master.

"I knew those things were useless." He mumbled to himself only to hear the loud alarm-like sound of two charging Stalkers. He turned to see the two monsters charging directly towards their prison; shoulder to shoulder and with their hard heads down low, ready to ram into the water walls with full force.

"Get ready." Naruto said while doing so himself.

The instant that the Stalkers' skulls impacted the water wall, a mighty splash alerted the group to an opening as the Stalker's themselves flew into the prison. Without missing a beat; the three genin leapt for the opening while Naruto and Sakura grabbed onto both Stalkers and tried to use their own momentum to force them out of quickly closing hole as well.

They instant they all landed outside of the prison; Naruto placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder while holding his other up in a familiar hand sign. The girl only had to look at him for a moment before placing her on hand on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha looked at his two team mates before looking in the direction where his struggling teacher was currently fighting for his life.

They had practiced this technique just for this situation; three on one.

"Hey!" Tazuna shouted; still inside the water prison. "What about me?!"

"This had been fun, but I really need to kill that old man if I hope to get paid." Zabuza said as he tried to cleave Kakashi in two with his sword. The Leaf ninja was able to push him off, giving Zabuza a chance to create a water clone and send it after the old man and genin.

Only it did not get the chance to even reach his water prison as something had just rushed out from the bushes and slammed into the clone with enough force to quickly turn it back into useless water. Before the rouge Mist ninja could get a chance to see what had caused the clone's destruction, Kakashi was back on the attack once again.

Now it was his turn to guard against the Leaf ninja as said opponent was wielding two electrified kunai and was desperately trying to embed them into Zabuza's skull.

A series of hoots and clicks were the only alert the gray skinned man got before something hard slammed itself into his side. Knocking him over, but also knocking him away from Kakashi. Zabuza landed on his feet hard and tried to ignore the pain in his side as he now stared down two strange monsters, three genin and a skilled Leaf jonin.

"Leave this to us." Sakura said to her teacher while slamming her fists together. Kakashi simply did not have the energy to argue.

"A new trick of yours?" Zabuza smirked underneath his facial wrappings. The man held his sword defensively. Anything could happen now.

A shrieking cry alerted him to one of the monster's charging straight for him. Zabuza leapt out of the way only to see the pink-haired girl heading straight for him, but with her fist pulled back. The rouge ninja had to move the instant his feet touched the ground just get out of the way of an Earth-shattering punch that left a mesh of cracks in the ground.

A surge of chakra from behind alerted the man to the wall of fire heading straight for his back. The ninja tried to get out of the way only to suddenly have around a dozen of the blond-haired ninja holding onto him; preventing him from getting away.

He could only brace himself for the fireball that quickly engulfed him and destroyed the clones holding him. He refused to scream in pain as the flames licked at every inch of exposed flesh.

He did not have to hold in the pain for long as another beast charged into his side and sent him flying into the river; putting out the fire and enveloping the man in the cool water.

Sakura sent a 'what the Hell' look at Naruto only for her unasked question to be answered when the Tormentor burst out of the water with Zabuza's leg in it's dangerous maw. The monster raised it's head high before slamming it's catch onto the ground with enough force to make the body bounce off the ground.

Even in his daze; Zabuza was able to roll out of the way and onto his feet just as the new monster slammed it's open maw down on the spot where the man was just laying. The creature roared before swinging it's massive forearm at the rouge ninja.

Said ninja was just barely able to put his sword between him and the attacking limp in a desperate effort to protect himself. The force of the impact was just too much however and the man was sent flying backwards. Sakura took this opportunity to wind up an empowered fist and slammed it directly into Zabuza's face as he sailed right past her. The added force of Sakura's fist was enough to send the man straight through a thick tree and slam back full force into another nearby tree. He fell to the ground in a slump.

"Wasn't expecting that." He chuckled darkly as he let out a strained cough and specks of blood could be seen soaking through his face wrappings.

The water prison finally fell and Tazuna ran to join the victorious ninja; who were all gathering around Zabuza's broken body.

Before anything else could be done, two large weaponized needles suddenly appeared lodged into Zabuza's neck and his entire form went limp.

"I would like to thank you for the assist." A feminine voice from above said. The voice belonged to a masked ninja with long black hair. "I have been chasing this particular traitor for quiet some time."

The ninja leapt down and grabbed Zabuza's body. "Now, if you will excuse me; I must dispose of this."

A roar and a series of stomps alerted the group to the charging Tormentor heading straight for both the masked ninja and the Zabuza's body.

The ninja quickly held up a hand and vanished with the body in a splash of water; causing the charging monster to slam into the tree with enough force to bring the plant down.

The beast roared in a loud rage. It's kill was stolen from it. A new family member was taken away before it could join. It had done a good job and now it had all gone to waste. The Tormentor started to stomp it's many limbs into the ground while roared and screaming loudly in all directions. It's rage building with every passing second.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "Hey! Hey, calm down." He ran in front of his monster while holding his hands up. The beast did not appear to give the boy any attention and continued to stomp and swing it's limbs about. One of it's mighty stomping limbs landed a little too close to Naruto and caused the boy to fall back and land hard on his rear.

The monster instantly stopped all motion and looked at the downed Naruto rub his sore rump. With a whimpering roar, the Tormentor instantly lowered it's head down towards Naruto and began to rub up against it's master. Apologizing in the only way it could.

"Hey now." Naruto said while getting back to his feet. "Your alright." he gave the beast a gentle pet.

"What the Hell was that all about?" Sakura asked while walking over and giving the same monster a comforting pet. Seems that even the possibility of harming their master terrified Naruto's creations in a way that was almost as terrifying as they themselves were.

Naruto looked at his female teammate before looking Kakashi straight in the eye. "I think Zabuza is still alive. The Tormentor would not have acted so violently to a corpse being taken away."

"I had guessed as much." Kakashi said with a sigh. "No real ANBU agent would bother carrying the corpse of a wanted man away. They tend to dispose of things like that then and there." He rubbed the back of his head. "Looks like we will have to deal with him later. And his masked friend too; potentially."

"Can we go home already?" Tazuna complained. "I don't want to be here should more of Gato's men show up."

"Alright then." Kakashi announced. "Let's go." He took one step forward and promptly fell flat on his face.

"You moron." Sakura sighed while walking over to her teacher's collapsed form. "You wasted way too much chakra and energy during that fight and can hradly move, can ya'?"

"...Maybe."

Sakura sighed before reaching down and hoisting the much larger man over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Just another show of the girl's truly impressive strength. Her team was used to such displays, but Tazuna was not; evident by his jaw laying on the ground.

"Could you at least carry me like a normal human?" Kakashi asked as the group made it's way towards Tazuna's home.

"Only after you've learned to stop pushing yourself to the breaking limit like that." Sakura lectured. "We are trained assassins and can fend for ourselves. You don't need to constantly protect us."

"She's got a point." Naruto agreed.

Sasuke just gave a grunt as his show of approval.

Kakashi just sighed and resigned himself to his current indignity.

Tazuna's home was near the back of the village and was almost on the complete opposite side from the very bridge he was building. This was kind of a good thing since it allowed the ninja group plus Naruto's monsters to get to the man's home without terrifying the villagers and alerting any of Gato's potential spy's of their presence.

"I'm home!" Tazuna announced upon opening the door. "And I brought help!"

A young brown-haired woman wearing an apron peeking over from what was probably the kitchen. "I am so glad your home safe dad!" The woman ran over and hugged her father. She looked over and saw the ninja group. "These them?" She asked.

"Yup." The old man confirmed. "They may not look like much, but they are ninja through and through. With their help, that bridge should be done in no time."

The woman pulled away from her father and gave the Konohagakure ninja a deep bow. "Thank you so much for protecting my father and helping with our village." She straightened up. "My name is Tsunami and I welcome you to my home."

"Thank you ma'am." Kakashi said while still bent over Sakura's shoulder, the rest of his squad gave polite bows while giving their own thanks. Even Sasuke gave a bow, a small one, but a bow none the less.

"Inari!" The woman shouted up a flight of stairs. "Come down and meet our guests."

Just a moment later and a young boy, no older then eight wearing a light tan hat, slowly walked down the stairs and looked at the older ninja. He glanced at each ninja once before a sour expression graced his face.

"These are the ninja dad got to help us." The woman said with a positive tone.

"They can't help." The child stated darkly. He looked down and allowed the rim of his hat to cover his young face. "They'll just end up dying like all the others."

The folks from the Leaf Village were taken a bit aback by the boy's dark words while his mother just hung her head and sighed heavily.

The boy looked up suddenly. "You should just leave already before your all killed!" He shouted.

Before his mother could reprimand him, a loud bang accompanied by the entire house shaking caused the woman to instinctively yank her boy close. Not a moment later, Tsunami let out a shrill scream as the Tormentor's upside-down head tried to force it's way through the still open front door.

Naruto sighed before walking over to the struggling beast.

"I have told you at least a dozen times now; you can't fit inside people's homes." He scolded while pushing the creature's head out and allowing his two Stalkers to saunter right on in.

Tsunami held her son close as the two smaller monsters started to walk around and explore her home. Making small whoops and clicks as they stalked about.

Inari held onto his mother tightly as one of the tall creatures made it's way over to the pair and slowly circled around them.

"No." Naruto ordered as he walked back inside. The creature's head shot up at his words and it proceeded to go back to exploring the house; completely ignoring the woman and child.

Naruto was quick to explain that the monster's were his and under his control. It still took a moment or two for Tsunami to calm down and let go over her child.

"Dinner will be ready soon." She looked at the Stalkers and at the visible Tormentor limb hanging just outside her window. "Might be a little longer then I expected." She stated in a still scared voice.

"No need." Naruto said, grasping what the woman was trying to imply, while grabbing a Stalker by the shoulders from behind and pulling back; forcing the creature to stand up much straighter then they were ever meant to. This revealed their completely empty chest cavity for the world to see. "They don't eat."

Tsunami nodded, still in a shocked state, and stiffly walked back into the kitchen.

The rest of the day, and small portion of the night, was devoted to the ninja discussing guard duties, training schedules, and battle strategies.

It was after dinner when Sakura decided to speak up. "Naruto." She said softly. "I don't mean to offend...but you stink."

Naruto jerked back slightly at his teammates words. "It's not my fault." He tried to defend himself.

"Whatever." Sakura waved his words off before looking at the home owner. Tsunami gave the girl a nod at her silent question.

"Go clean up." The pink-haired girl ordered the blond boy.

Naruto gave the girl a glare before standing up. Tsunami told him where the washroom was and he followed her directions and entered the small bathing room.

He stood in the room with his back pressed up against the door; his head held down as he allowed his hair to black his vision. He stayed like that far longer then he should have.

With a heavy sigh Naruto took off his jacket and closed his eyes tightly while taking a calming breath and turning his back to the mirror, before opening his eyes and looking behind him at the mirror.

His heart sank as he saw the distorted and twisted flesh the occupied his back; where several gashes had once been from a nasty whip.


	8. Chapter 8

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 8**

* * *

"So, Zabuza failed?" A heavy set man wearing a business suit asked in a disappointed tone. Hearing the man's tone, two naked women crawled over to him on their hands and knees and started to work the buttons on his pants.

"Yes Lord Gato." A mercenary responded. "He stated that the bridge builder is still alive and has a small group of ninja protecting him. He claims them to be ninja from the Leaf."

Gato did not initially respond. He knew the bridge builder had gone to get ninja assistance; that was the very reason he even had Zabuza hired. But it looks like he'd need a little more help if he wanted the bridge's construction to come to a halt. The fact that his adversary had hired Leaf ninja was of no consequence since he only had mercenaries hired under him. If any suspicion was thrown his way, he could easily claim that the men were working of their own volition.

The two naked women had finally fished the man's cock from within his pants and had started going about pleasuring the member.

Gato placed both of his hands on both womens' heads before speaking up. "Bring him to me once he recovers." The crime lord ordered his underling. "I want more patrols through the village. If you see any sign of the ninja or even the faintest hint of resistance to me; deal with it accordingly."

The mercenary smirked. "As you wish, Lord Gato."

* * *

Sakura woke up with a yawn and gave a happy stretch before getting dressed and heading downstairs where he teacher and the home owner were. Both were currently sitting at the table, chatting the day away. Tsunami looked a little worse for wear however, it appeared that having mutated walking corpses moving about your house at all hours might make it hard for someone not used to it to get any sleep.

She sat down at the table and gave another yawn. It had been a little over a week since she and her team had arrived at the village and began their new job as body guards. Since they've been there, there hasd been no sign of any of Gato's men showing up to cause problems.

"Morning there sleepy-head." Kakashi said while holding a small cup of coffee."Naruto is guarding Tazuna right now, why don't you go see if you can offer any assistance...after your actually awake." He chuckled.

Sakura just gave the man a nod before grabbing some breakfast from the kitchen and heading out. She took note that the Tormentor was no longer on top of Tsunami's house as she left.

* * *

Before she reached the more populated portion of the village, Sakura wisely took off and put away her ninja headband. While they were good at protecting the front of the skull, they were terrible for using when stealth was required. Without the headband, nobody would know that she was actually a ninja, nor would they pay her any mind.

The village was what you would expect a horribly dilapidated town run buy a greedy and ruthless dictator would look. Completely run down with most people breaking their backs just to barely pay off the thugs that patrolled the streets.

The state of the village market was simply depressing. Windows and doors boarded up with the very few remaining shops carrying just barely enough stock to feed one family, let alone an entire starving village. Gato's heavy taxation on all trade made it almost impossible for anyone to even afford the cheapest of food, let alone produce even the faintest hint of profit.

The rest of the village was not much better off. Boarded doors and windows covered empty homes while the families that used to reside within were forced to huddle together right on the doorsteps. The dead and dying were left wherever they fell while those desperate enough resorted to using them as a last ditch food source.

Sakura did her best to block it all from her mind and keep her eyes forward as she quickly made her way through the village and towards the large bridge that was being built.

Despite the hard work they were doing, the workers Sakura passed all gave the girl thanks for her assistance in protecting them. Just a small effort to show their gratitude towards the ninja and the work they were doing for the small village.

Sakura finally saw Naruto with the old bridge builder near the end of the bridge. She noticed that her teammate had his Stalkers help the construction workers carry supplies and building materials, but The Tormentor was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto shouted while waving at his teammate. The girl gave a small smile before waving right back and picking up speed slightly to meet her friend.

"What are you doing here little lady?" Tazuna asked, a big smile on his face.

"I came to to see if you needed any help." She looked back at the two Stalkers pulling their own cart of building materials along with no sign at all of being slowed or hindered by the cart's weight. "But it looks like things are going smoothly here."

"Oh, things are going great!" Tazuna exclaimed joyfully. "With Naruto's beasts helping, we've already got so much more done. Makes me wish the brat would let me keep one."

"I already told you that I can't do that." Naruto stated in a humored tone.

Sakura smiled at the lax and positive air that surrounded her. The bridge that would save the village was coming along and with how fast it was being built, the workers were feeling good as well. Hell, even a few more men from the village had volunteered to help in the structures creation. The girl looked around and noticed that The Tormentor was not around.

"Um, Naruto?" She spoke up to gain the attention of the boy currently arguing with the laughing old man. "Where is your big monster?"

Naruto looked at Sakura for a moment before pointing over to a pile of slag and construction trash. "It's hiding under there."

Sakura gave her teammate an inquisitive glance before walking over to the trash pile. She gave the junk a good once over and almost failed to notice the obvious. The Tormentor _was_ the pile of trash.

The construction crew spray painted the beast a metallic silver and the creature had tucked in it's limbs around itself while curling up into a misshapen heap. The builders then placed various forms of trash on top and around the monster to help with the illusion. The Tormentor even had it's beady little eyes closed.

"See?" Naruto started while puffing out his chest proudly. "Even if none of us are around, the place will still be guarded. No one will be able to get the drop on us without alerting it."

Sakura smirked at Naruto's prideful boast. "I'm impressed Naruto." She praised the lad. "I would never have thought that a dunce like you would be able to come up with such a surprisingly effective scheme like this."

Naruto's posture faltered as he sent Sakura a half-hearted dirty look. The girl returned his with an overly sweet smile of her own.

The ninja pair, along with the undead monsters, performed their scheduled guard duty. Nothing happened during their duty hours; no threats, no incidents, not even a minor mishap.

When it was time for the workers to go home; Sakura and Naruto waited with Tazuna until every builder had left for home.

"They are all so happy to be doing something great." Tazuna said with a smile as he watched the last man disappear around a building.

Naruto stretched. "Everyone likes to feel useful." He stated. Knowing the feeling of helplessness and uselessness he knew all too well.

"That they do." Tazuna agreed absentmindedly. The man hiked up his pants. "Whelp." He sniffed loudly. "Time to head home for the day."

As if responding to the man's words, The Tormentor slowly rose up and shook off the trash before approaching it's master and nuzzling it's dead human face against his living one.

The group took the longest way possible to reach Tazuna's home so as to avoid any unnecessary attention. Seeing three monsters walking down the street might cause a few people to scream out in bloody terror and draw the really unneeded attention of Gato's underlings.

Tsunami made everyone a hearty dinner and the entire group ate a nice, quiet, and peaceful meal.

That is until Inari suddenly slammed both of his hands on the table. The loud and sudden action startled Naruto so badly that he started to choke and caused his two Stalkers to start hooting excitedly.

"Inari?!" Tsunami scolded her son.

"Why do you keep doing this?!" The little boy shouted. "Why are you even trying to do something to useless? Your all just going to die like all the others and nothing will change! You'll die and the bridge will be destroyed! You can't fight Gato!" He looked up and tears could be seen visibly falling down his young face.

"You clearly don't know a thing about the ninja of the Hidden Leaf." Naruto stated while slurping down the last of his food. "We don't give up. We don't surrender." He turned and looked Inari in the eyes. "And we never leave someone in need."

Inari glared back. "Then the Hidden Leaf village is filled with nothing but idiots."

"What do you know anyway?" Naruto shot back harshly. The kid's negative attitude was starting to grate on the ninja's nerves. "Your just a cowardly little brat."

"Your a complete and total failure!" Inari shouted back. "Your going to die and everyone you know will be killed by Gato! All because you failed!"

Naruto suddenly stood up and grabbed Inari by the front of his shirt and pulled him up close to his face; his other hand balled up into a tight fist. Both of the boys glared hard at each other for what felt like hours.

After a few seconds of hard glaring, Naruto dropped Inari and stormed out of the house. The Stalkers looked at the folks left inside the house before turning and leaving with their master.

Sakura stood up and was about to head out after Naruto, only for Kakashi to put a hand on her shoulder and shake his head.

Naruto wandered aimlessly through the dark and empty woods. What did that little brat know? He did not know what Naruto had gone through. He did not know the people he cared for. To even mention the possibility of something bad happening to them sent Naruto's temper flaring.

He knew he needed to calm down before returned to Tazuna's home, but Inari's words had scorned him to the point where he would not be able to for quiet a while. So, Naruto did the only thing he could think to do, train.

Naruto continued to stomp through the woods when he suddenly came upon a very large clearing. Filled with graves.

This was not a normal cemetery. The graves were more or lease just piles of dirt placed on the bodies and the only markers of each grave was either a piece of wood or a stone; no real headstones. The feeling of complete helplessness and oppression weighed heavily upon Naruto's young form.

It did not take Naruto long to realize what he had stumbled upon. This was clearly where the villagers buried those that Gato had executed. Obviously, the crime lord was not going to allow any of his enemies to be given a proper burial. So the villagers had to make due with what they could while going about the task of burying their loved ones as quickly and quietly as possible.

Naruto slowly looked across the small meadow, his earlier anger being redirected towards the man who caused the deaths of so many innocent people. He took a calming breath before turning around and beginning his way back to Tazuna's home.

That is, until the voices returned. Naruto was more then aware that it was simply his permanent guest causing the auditory hallucinations; but that did not stop them from being anymore annoying. He shook his head and tried to continue onward.

"...Wait..." A cold voice rasped out from behind. Naruto quickly spun around; his eyes widening at what he saw before him.

All over the meadow were pale, transparent figures. All moving around without any effort or sign of physical attachment. All with bright, piercing yellow eyes.

Naruto opened his mouth, but no words came to him.

"...Anger..." A hundred haunting voice gasped from the graves. "...Pain...Hate..." Their words echoed and clawed within Naruto's mind.

The boy closed his eyes tightly and tried to focus. Meditation is what saved his mind before, and it will do the same now. The only problem was; he could not tell if what he saw was real, or just a product of the monster within him. Naruto began to chant several mantras meant to calm one's mind.

After what felt like an hour, the voices died down and Naruto stopped his chanting. He took a calming breath.

It was all just a trick of the being within him; that was all. Spirits did exist, but haunting a grave site was too cliche and no one had ever seen one within a hallowed place of the dead ever.

With another long calming breath, Naruto opened his eyes. A pair of bright yellow eye stared right back. "REVENGE!" The countless voices screamed.

Each spirit suddenly vanished within the ground as a shock wave rippled through Naruto's body. Not a few seconds later and the ground around him exploded with screaming undead creatures.

Every shallow grave burst open as the reshaped bodies of those Gato had killed tore themselves free from their Earthly prison. Naruto tried to control his recombining aura, but to no avail. By the time he was able to regain control and reign the sphere of influence in; every corpse in the meadow had been transformed into a twisted killing machine.

Naruto was barely able to look at his new army before his vision became fuzzy and unconsciousness claimed him.

* * *

Not a moment after his eyes close did Naruto find himself in new surroundings. He found himself standing on a flat platform made of bone and cartilage within a massive chamber composed entirely of muscle, nerves and transformed flesh and organs. There was something not right about the chamber. It was big; too big. So big that it simply should not exist as it was. Naruto's young mind constantly told him that the the massive room should not exist, yet here he was, standing directly in the center of it.

Jutting out of several random locations within the chamber were countless stone obelisks of varying different colors and sizes; all in the shape of a double-helix. The strange words and symbols Naruto had seen so many times within his mind covered every obelisk.

Naruto only had a moment to collect his thoughts when several booming; yet friendly sounding voices echoed throughout the chamber.

 **"So, the one that contains me has come for a visit? How delightful."** The words should have been sarcastic, but the voices speaking held not even the faintest hint of malice.

Naruto tried to reply while swiftly looking around for the source of the voices. But failed to both speak and discover the voices' location.

 **"Look up, Blond One."** The voices suggested.

Naruto did so and saw what appeared to be a hole blocked by countless bony spikes pointing in every odd direction possible. The spikes moved along with the rest of the chamber; as if the dead flesh was still alive.

Slowly, the bone spikes all began to shift and move until they were all pointing straight down; revealing the hole's opening. Something red and slick blocked the hole.

Said blockage moved down to reveal what could best be described as a horribly damaged and deformed human heart held up by a massive fleshy appendage. The coloration was enough to cause Naruto to gag slightly while taking notice of what appeared to be a giant set of jaws located at where the 'heart's' base should have been. Blood and decaying flesh appeared to constantly drip from the misshapen and jagged teeth.

Where the left atrium should have been was nothing put a mound of dead flesh and muscle attached to a single massive tentacle with smaller tendrils at the very end. Directly in the center of the heart, as well as directly on the right ventricle was a large unblinking yellow eye.

Naruto tried to keep his breathing steady as he was suddenly faced with the very monster contained within him. Both large eyes focused completely on the small boy standing before them.

 **"Feel honored my youthful prophet; for your god has finally decided to grace you with his appearance."** The voices held such a strange combination of kindness yet superiority that Naruto could have sworn a more arrogant Hiruzen Sarutobi would have said the same words.

Naruto could only stare up at the entity while trying to remember how to breath, let alone talk. Thankfully, the being was patient with it's jailer and waited for Naruto to finally speak.

"Wh-Wha?" Was all that Naruto could say before suddenly being overcome with the urge to vomit.

 **"Silly child. You know what I am. Or are you asking why? Why what? Why am I here? Why did I decide to honor you with a glimpse of what I will soon become once again?"** The entity's one moveable appendage slowly made it's way over to the platform Naruto stood on and slowly circled itself around Naruto's position. **"What does my prophet ask of his god?"**

It took Naruto what felt like hours to finally be able to form a complete sentence. He clenched his fists hard; grit his teeth and glared hard at the being before him.

"I am not your prophet." He stated harshly.

The being gave an almost pleased chuckle. **"You clearly are my prophet. You have been hard at work supplying me with the corpses I need to reform my body. Your work slower then the usual method."** One of it's eyes glanced over at one of the many obelisks surrounding the two; signalling what it probably had used before to create the undead creatures Naruto was able to create. **"And you seem to be interfering with my parts original purpose. But I have faith that my first prophet will be able to fulfill his duties in time; and his god will rise once again to claim all life of this world."** Both eyes fixed themselves onto Naruto once again. **"I will use you in making my core. You will become one with all life of this world; and all others of the universe, as all life will become a part of me."**

Naruto could not reply. This thing was much worse then he had thought. It was more then just an evil monster trying to destroy humanity. It wanted to destroy all life in existence.

 **"There is so much life upon this world."** The being continued. **"There is so much that I might even be tempted to create a new Brother out of what I don't use."**

"A-Another?" Naruto stammered. It was almost impossible to imagine this _one_ being set free. Two was unimaginable.

 **"Of course."** It responded in an amused tone. **"A broken god must try to rebuild itself should it not? Another would greatly speed up the process of my final completion. The other parts of me are too far away to be of any use now."** It noticed Naruto's terrified and confused expression. **"Yes, there are more of me, my prophet. Other great gods that roam this universe. Going from world to world, galaxy to galaxy to consume all life and to slowly rebuild my body."**

Naruto's expression became that much more fearful. The being mistook Naruto's expression of fear as a sign of worry for the entity instead of terry at the possibility of more of them.

 **"Do not fear for your god; prophet. Though they may all be so far away that your mind can not even hope to comprehend the distance; my body will be reformed in time. There will be no need of them ever coming to this far off world."**

Naruto visibly gave a heavy sigh of relief. One monster was enough to contend with; knowing that it was going to be the only one was a small ounce of relief.

Suddenly; the creatures tentacle grabbed at Naruto's jacket from the back and tore it and his shirt off. **"While I do enjoy gracing my prophet with my holy form; I have not demanded your attendance for simple pleasures."** The entity's tone had become that of a strict instructor. " **Your body is weak and fragile. It can be harmed much to easily; and while you must die to finally become a part of your god, I can not have you pass into death while I am contained within you. I would be unable to reform my body and would thus pass into death as well. A god can not die. To insure that my prophet continues to live and serve me; I will be changing your body into a more useful form as you become injured. Your dead flesh shall become mine.**

The being paused for a moment.

 **But there is only so much I can do. If you can not protect your own body; I will swallow your mind and become my own prophet."** The creature's appendage grabbed Naruto's form and brought it mere centimeters away from one of it's large eyes. **"Do. Not. Dissapoint. Me."** It warned before gently placing Naruto back onto the platform.

 **"Now."** It's tone suddenly switched back to it's normal friendly and positive tone. **"Before you depart from my prison, I feel that I should grace you with a vision of what my form will be when I am finally free. Please see it as motivation for what you are working towards; my prophet."**

The world around Naruto suddenly shifted. Th chamber vanished completely and the boy was now standing in a vast empty desert. But it was not his surroundings that he was focused on.

Naruto's eyes widened as absolute fear and hopelessness washed over him. Never in all of his existence had he ever felt this insignificant or worthless. What he saw was impossible, yet it existed. And worse; it existed within himself.

He could feel his very mind start to shatter and break. In an effort to save his sanity, Naruto's mind quickly shifted and twisted the world around him; taking the boy way from the nightmare and into a pleasant dream.

* * *

The gentle rays of the morning sun beamed through the lush green forest the surrounded the small fishing village. Within said forest rested many plants and herbs that were useful as medicinal aids; as well as deadly poisons.

Haku had used both at varying times. The teenage assassin walked through the forest, picking bits of pieces of the varying plants it held while placing them within a small basket. If one were to see the lad now, they would see either a beautiful woman dressed in charming pink yukata picking flowers for her lover; or a very beautiful boy curious about the world around him.

Haku was more than aware of his feminine appearance; and he was more than aware of the attention it got him. He did not really like the attention he got; so he usually dressed up as a woman both because it was easier for him then dressing as a man and it would make most would be suitors leave him alone, but also because he enjoyed the feeling of beauty and freedom it gave him.

But that's a story for another day; because while he was out gathering medicine for his master, Zabuza, the young shinobi noticed a familiar blond-headed Leaf shinobi laying peacefully against a tree. The early morning light glistened off the dew of the flowers that surrounded the boy's sleeping for and warmed his face his such a way that left nothing but a soft calm and innocents within one's mind.

Haku slowly approached the sleeping boy. His eyes fixated on the boy's face. There was just something about it that drew the long-haired boy's eyes directly to it every time he tried to look away.

There was no bones about it; the boy was cute. The boy was _too_ cute.

The young man shook his head to get rid of such unprofessional thoughts. He was a tool, a weapon, there was no purpose for a weapon to have any desires of it's own but to slaughter those that it's master demanded to die. That thought reminded Haku what that boy really was, an enemy.

He tried to not stare at the boy's face as he crouched down next to his sleeping form and slowly began to reach for the kid's neck. It would be so simple; just a small twist and the boy would be dead. Quick, easy, and clean.

His hand inched closer and closer to the boy's sun-kissed skin and was about to wrap around Naruto's throat. That is, until the sound of rustling leaves, loudly cracking wood and deep guttural growls alerted the highly trained assassin to the presence of something very big and very angry hanging about right behind him.

Haku froze completely; an endless number of scenarios played through his head, with only a few ending with him leaving in one piece. He had seen the things the blond kept as company and dealing with them was at the very bottom of a long list of things he will never actually do.

The growling grew louder, causing Naruto's sleeping form to shift slightly and slowly awaken. Haku was quick to retract his outstretched hand.

Naruto clenched his eyes tightly for a moment to block out the bright morning sun, but a moving shadow did so instead. The boy slowly blinked his eyes awake and was greeted by a soft and kind looking girl's face. And directly behind the soft face was one belonging to one of the horrifying monster's that tended to enjoy Naruto's company.

Said boy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before looking at the girl again. "Uh, who are you?" He asked bluntly. "Your not some weirdo that likes to watch people sleep are you?"

Haku was taken slightly aback by the sudden accusation. "What? No, no." He quickly waved his hands defensively. "I was just collecting some herbs and flowers when I spotted you laying here. I just thought I should check to see if the sleeping child in the middle of the woods was alright." He showed his basket to the Leaf shinobi as proof of his words.

Unfortunately, the beast behind him took that as the beginning of an aggressive gesture and growled loudly while snatching the disguised assassin up. He had to fight his instinct to stab the grab happy appendage and instead continued to play his part as a normal civilian woman, by screaming at the top of his feminine lungs. This caused the monster to let out a loud roar and start swinging the girl-dressed-boy about like a rag doll.

"Stop!" Naruto shouted; and the beast halted all movements. "Drop." And Haku suddenly found himself dropping to the ground before being caught by Naruto. The older boy blinked for a moment before looking up at Naruto's apologetic face.

"Sorry about that." He apologized. "Sometimes it can get a little over protective." He looked at the Tormentor; which simply stared back. The creature had apparently taken to the trees to watch over it's master while the rest of it's kind had gone of to find their own places to hide until their master's awakening.

Haku did not hear a word the younger boy had said. He was too focused on memorizing every detail of the boy's young face as it grinned down in embarrassment. The older boy felt his face heat up slightly.

"Um." Was all he said and Naruto quickly put the boy down. "So, you can control these things?" He asked while looking at the cautious monster closely.

"Kinda'." Naruto responded before sighing heavily. "The obey my orders. They protect me. But it becomes hard to stop them from doing what they were made to do." He said while slowly petting the Tormentor's head.

Haku looked at Naruto.

"They were made to kill. Everyone and everything. If I did not control them as much as I do; by now, the entire world would probably be dead." His voice was solemn." Sometimes it takes so much effort to keep just a few of these things from going on a killing spree. Sometimes it's like trying to control a room full of blood thirsty psychopaths will a broken walky-talky. Other times, it's as easy as controlling a perfectly trained and disciplined army."

"Why?" Haku asked. "How do you control them?"

Naruto gave a defeated chuckled before placing hand on his gut. "It's my curse."

His answer only confused Haku further.

"I am just able to." He answered the second question vaguely. "I've always been able to for as long as I can remember."

He clearly did not want to divulge too much information. But from just the little bit he did speak about; and the way his words left his lips; Haku could see the deep rooted troubles that plagued the boy. He had no choice in controlling these monsters or else very terrible things would happen. Naruto could easily just let his monsters rampage, but he chooses to keep them on a short leash.

The older boy did not have to ask; as Naruto's face explained everything to him. The boy loved his home; he had people there that he greatly cared for. He had to control these monsters or else they would cause the destruction of his home, and the lose of the people he cared the most for. So, he made the most out of his horrible situation and used the monsters as his own personal tools of death.

It was almost the reverse of Haku and his master, Zabuza. Haku was perfectly happy serving as an instrument of murder for his master; Naruto's minions appeared even more pleased to do even the smallest task their master asked of them. But while Zabuza was at the very least apathetic to having Haku around, Naruto was not even close to being pleased with his situation. Yet there were clear signs that the boy had at least bonded to some level with the rotting monsters that often surrounded him.

Haku gave a small smile before looking at Naruto directly. The older boy continued to talk with Naruto; the two talked for hours, learning more about the other then either had planned to tell. Something about the blond just made the older assassin want to let out every secret and terrible truth that had been chewing away at his soul for years. Of course he obviously did not let on that he was a highly trained killer or worked for the man that was currently trying to end the Leaf shinobi's young life.

The two talked until the sun was high into the bright blue sky.

"Well." Haku started before getting to his feet from his seated position and patting his yukata to get off any dirt that might have clung to the outfit. "I should really get going. My master is still waiting for me."

Naruto jumped to his feet. "I hope he gets better soon." Naruto said with honest sincerity.

"With these." Haku gestured towards his small basket full of herbs and flowers. "He should make a full recovery in no time."

The two waved at each other as Haku left the area.

"It was nice talking to you Miss Haku. I hope we can meet again sometime." Naruto shouted.

Haku stopped and gave a short wave. "I am sure we will meet again." He reassured before speaking up again. "Oh, and I am a boy."

Naruto froze completely in shock. This amazingly cute girl was actually a really cute boy? This news sent a slight shudder up Naruto's spine; though if it was a good or bad one, he did not know.

The Tormentor tilted it's head quizzically at it's master's sudden lack of motion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 9  
**

* * *

The next day started like any other. The sun rose, the birds chirped until they were ruthlessly crushed to death by an instinctive Tormentor, and folks went to work to try and earn enough to support their family's.

"Are you sure it's alright to leave him here?" Tazuna asked as he hiked his slipping pants up. "The bridge is almost done. Anything could happen

"Naruto has been training very hard for the past few days." Kakashi responded while taking his one visible eye away from his favorite novel. "He deserves a little break. "I'm sure he'll rush to join us as soon as he wakes up."

Kakashi looked over to his other two students. Sasuke was brooding as always and Sakura was trying to cox the Tormentor to come off Tazuna's roof and follow them to the bridge. The promise of treats did nothing; but the rather unintelligent creature eventually understood the girl and got down to follow them.

"Besides." Kakashi started up again. "He said that there wasn't anything to worry about and that he had a fail-safe if things got too bad."

Tazuna gave a shrug before the group left. This was hopefully the final day that the build team needed to finally finish the bridge. If they could push as hard as they could and work through their break; there was a small sliver of a chance that the bridge could be completed.

Despite how happy a day this was; the old bridge builder had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his gut.

* * *

Tsunami watched her father and the Leaf ninja head for the bridge from her kitchen window. The young widow gave a happy sigh before beginning to clean the dirty dishes from breakfast. There was a lot more then usual due to her guests; but she did not mind. She felt good that she was able to help even the slightest even though she was just a simple civilian mother. Warm beds and a good home-cooked meal were the least she could offer the generous ninja that were helping her father.

After finishing with the dishes, Tsunami looked up at the clock and decided that it was about time to wake her son up for school. She, and the rest of the village was very lucky that most of the school teachers were willing to work with little to no pay; considering the current state of things.

However, instead of his mother waking him up; a loud crash and his mother's sudden scream woke young Inari. Without a moment of hesitation, the young lad leapt out of his bed, practically jumped down the stairs, and ran into the dinning room to see two mercenaries holding his mother.

"Now look and see what you did?" One chastised the woman. "You gone and woke up the kid. What kind of mother does somethin' like that?"

"Maybe we should punish her?" The other asked with a sadistic grin. He drew his sword and slowly ran it straight down the woman's clothing. The cloth easily tore through her apron and casual wear; leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties.

"Yeah." The first sounded way too eager. "The boss said he wanted her alive; he never said how alive." He held the woman's chin. :Maybe she'd like to show her kid here how he was made?" He chuckled. "Bet that turns out on doesn't it? Being watched by a little boy."

"Let her go." Inari growled while running to the kitchen counter and grabbing the largest knife he could find. That took the smirk away from both men.

"Now that ain't a very smart thing to do kid." The second thug threatened while pointing his sword towards the boy. "We were told to keep this bitch alive; we weren't told nothin' 'bout no brat."

"Fuck it." The first one said as he drew his weapon and began to approach Inari. "I'll just kill him now so he won't be no trouble later."

"NO! Please!" Tsunami shouted. "I'll come quietly. I'll do anything you want. Just please don't hurt my son." She begged. But she did not cry. Gato had taken to much from her. He was not about to have her son or the satisfaction of seeing her tears ever again.

"Smart lady." The second chuckled before backing out of the house and onto the deck that connected the small plot of land the house stood on to the rest of the village.

The other mercenary gave an annoyed grunt before putting his weapon away and walking out towards his partner.

Inari swallowed the fear he felt, gripped the knife as tightly as he could, and charged straight for the man; weapon held high and ready to plunge onto soft yielding flesh.

Only, instead of burying the kitchen implement deep into the man's back; Inari was instead met with a hard fist straight on the nose, breaking it instantly. The force of the blow was enough to send the kid right back inside his small home.

"INARI!" Tsunami shouted distressing and worry.

"What a fuckin' moron." Thug two bemoaned. "Your ma' just offered you a chance to live. Why don't you be smart and just lay there so we don't kill ya' for bein' a pest?"

It hurt. It hurt a lot. But Inari was sick and tired of everything. He was tired being hungry. He was tired of being afraid. He was tired of living under Gato's rule. The young lad ignored the pain in his throbbing nose and was about to charge once again when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked up to see an awake and fully clothed Naruto standing behind him.

"Fuck." Thug one swore. "I thought they had all left already."

The first mercenary just smirked. "What you frettin' over? It's just one little brat. He looks like he'd wet himself if he even so much as saw a drop of blood; let alone what we'd do to him."

Naruto ignored the two men and smiled down at Inari. "Thanks for distracting them kid." Naruto said proudly. "Go wash up while I get your mom back. I don't want to amaze you too much with my awesome ninja skills." He falsely bragged. Really, Naruto wanted the kid to leave so that he would not be traumatized by what was about to happen.

Little Inari looked up at Naruto for a moment and noticed his expression turn from a carefree smile to complete and total seriousness instantly. Maybe it would be a good idea to do what the trained professional killer suggested. He quickly dropped the knife and ran into the bathroom as Naruto made his way outside.

The two thugs drew and pointed their weapons straight at Naruto. "Don't you even think about tryin' anything funny." The first warned before putting his blade against Tsunami's neck. "Or else there will be one pretty little head rolling around."

Naruto held both of his empty hand up with palms out. "I don't have any weapons. What are you scared of?" Nothing was in his hands and he had honestly forgotten his weapon pouch when he rushed downstairs to help Inari and his mother.

"Cut the crap!" The second shouted. "I know you ninja can do some crazy shit without needen' any sorta' weapon." He and his comrade slowly backed up while holding the silent Tsunami. The Hell she was going to even give these assholes the joy of hearing her whimper in fear.

Naruto took a step forward and the thugs stopped. "Don't fuckin' move!" The first shouted.

"Fine, fine." Naruto said almost with a sigh as he continued to hold he hands out.

Thunk! Something in the water bumped into the wooden pathway. Neither of the goons looked to see what caused the noise. Naruto did however and gave a very obvious smirk.

"Don't you want to see what made that noise?" Naruto asked.

Both thugs gave each other a short glance before the first hesitantly turned his head to see into the water. There, floating, was a badly damaged and waterlogged corpse. The skin appeared to be pulled so tightly against the bones that it became transparent as there did not appear to be any muscle at all in any of the limbs. The spine of the floating body was completely exposed but appeared to not be sitting just right in it's natural position while the head appeared to be the most normal with little hair and only a long line reached from the cap to the neck and the yellow eyes being the only unusual aspects.

The goon gave a confused glance at his pal before looking at Naruto. What the Hell could this kid be planning? It was just a body. Probably some idiot that tried to defy Gato.

The sound of splashing water drew both thugs' attention now as the corpse's head suddenly began to violently twitch and spasm before suddenly rearing up and extending on an impossibly long and thin neck made of nerves and muscle.

"I think I'll call you." Naruto thought for a moment. "The Grabber."

The two men faced the creature on surprise before the monster's entire head split completely in half; revealing countless small needle-like teeth and a very thick fleshy tongue.

Tsunami; correctly assuming the creature to be one of Naruto's took the small window of opportunity she had and smashed the back of her head against her capture's nose. Breaking it as payback for her son. This clearly forced her capture to let her go as well as distracted his friend long enough for the monster to lunge forward and snap closed around one of the mercenary's head.

Instantly, the man began to struggle and began swinging his word around wildly as the monster's head and neck thrashed about wildly; pulling the man closer and closer to it's mostly motionless body. Just as quickly as the head moved; the creature's spine pulled away from the body revealing that the rips and smaller bones had been used to elongate and sharped the spine into a nasty looking curved blade. The blade was held up and controlled using pure muscle tissue; allowing for unlimited directional use.

With each violent thrash the Grabber pulled the man closer and closer to it's primary method of killing before quickly thrusting the organic weapon forward and impaling the man through the back. The blade easily went right through the man's body as it was tore free before being plunged in once again. The creature continued to hold and stab at the man until his screams and movements had completely stopped. It then tossed the corpse aside

While that was going on Naruto had charged the other man and quickly beat him into submission. Not much you can do when your friend is being repeatedly stabbed by an undead freak.

"What was your bosses plan?" Naruto demanded. He forced the guy to his feet and the Grabber instantly latched onto the back of the guy's head; holding him up.

The man did not respond to Naruto and instead spat out a small bit of blood onto the kid's face. Naruto payed the man back with a nasty punch to the gut. This happened nearly a dozen times before Naruto gave up.

"He's not talking." He looked at his new friend and then back to the house that Tsunami had ran into after getting free from her captures. Said woman came out wearing some new clothes and carrying Naruto's weapon pouch. She handed Naruto the pouch.

"Thanks." He said while securing the weapon holster on him. He then gave the woman a thoughtful look. "Why don't you play around with him while I go save the day?" He suggested. "The Grabber will keep him still for ya'."

Tsunami blinked in confusion for a moment before a vile smirk adorned her otherwise pretty face. She did not need to say a word; Naruto knew that he had just unleashed a monster more terrifying then anything he had ever created.

He did give the woman a nod though as his Stalkers walked out of the house and made their way over to their master's side. He gave them a once over before running straight for the bridge Tazuna and the other ninja were currently at.

As he moved; undead creatures of all misshapes and terrifying sizes crawled out from under the water or from within the woods. All following their master loyally. This is what had become of the corpses within that massive graveyard; their body's had been brought back and their souls were hungry for vengeance.

Naruto; taking note of his entourage made two clones of himself and the three ran straight through the village's main roadway in a typical V-formation. All the while shouting for everyone to get off the street and into whatever safe area they could; the boy was not confident that he could prevent the large hoard behind him from going on a complete rampage.

He felt tired as he ran. His breath was short and sweat had started to fall from his forehead. Keeping so many under control at once was draining the young boy of his energy much faster then any training session he had ever taken part of. He needed to get his small army to the bridge as fast as he could. Naruto refused to allow any unnecessary deaths.

Upon arriving at his destination, Naruto found the bridge to be completely covered in a thick fog. His Tormentor stood just outside of the fog and gave an excited roar upon seeing it's master.

Naruto stood for a moment and allowed his army to arrive before taking a long calming breath and slowly open his bleeding eyes. The world around him had become a bright red as his bright blue eyes turned into dark red stone.

Looking forward, Naruto was able to see the circulatory systems of several different people moving about on the misty bridge. Three that were around the same size as Naruto and were probably Sasuke and Sakura along with an unknown assailant. The unknown individual moved much too fast for Naruto to really get a good look. A more hefty and rotund system crouched down and hiding; Tazuna obviously. And finally, two taller and more thickly veined systems could be seen further down the bridge; clashing into one anther before pushing away repeatedly. Clearly Kakashi and Zabuza going at it.

Naruto focused on his teammates and could see that at least one of them was on the ground and was slowly losing blood while the other appeared to be trying to deflect something.

The young boy leapt up onto The Tormentor's neck before giving the order for the rest of his creations to wait at the end of the bridge. He secretly hoped that he could help his team while keeping the group of monsters from going berserk. He gave his mount a pat on the head and the creature charged forward into the mist.

He had to blink a few times to change his eyes back to normal as his monster got closer to his ailing allies. He could see that the downed member was Sasuke while Sakura was doing her best to deflect what appeared to be a veritable storm of senbon needles. The weapons appeared to be coming from about a dozen icy mirrors that had formed a small cage around his fellow shinobi.

"Can't you see that it is hopeless?" A familiar voice said from within the cage.

"You clearly have never met me before!" Naruto shouted right as The Tormentor charged right through nearly every ice mirror. Leaving only a few to suddenly melt into puddles. Right on the front of The Tormentor's head was the same shinobi from a while ago that had taken Zabuza's body after their first meeting. The undead monster held the front of the enemy's outfit in it's jaws.

Naruto firmly planted both hands on the base of his mount's neck before lifting both of his feet up, pulling them close to his body, and slamming them both as hard as he could directly into the ninja's masked face. He then used the shinobi's face as springboard to launch himself off of his beast and to land firmly next to his female teammate; who was currently looking like she had just lost a fight with a giant pincushion. Sasuke looked about the same.

"Thanks." Sakura panted as she carefully pulled a few weaponized needles out of her arms.

"Need a break?" Naruto asked while watching his Tormentor thrash the enemy shinobi about like a rag doll.

"Hmph." Sasuke responded while weakly pushing himself to his feet. "The day i let you show me up is the day the sun dies." The Uchiha stated as he tried to remove the weapons embedded in his flesh.

"Well looks like I still got a chance then." Naruto smirked as his monster suddenly tossed it's toy towards him and his team. The figure slowly got to it's feet. Sasuke and Sakura got done in a stance, ready for another fight.

"I knew I had no real chance." The shinobi sighed as a large crack could now be seen running through their mask. "I thought that there might have been a small chance i could have at least taken those two down before you would arrive." The shinobi continued to look forward as it's broken mask began to slip from their face.

"But I knew I would never be able to defeat you, Naruto." The mask fell away to reveal Haku's sad face. "Your so much more than a mere tool, like me."

Naruto dropped his stance as his eyes widened in shock.

"You." Haku paused before smiling softly. "Are much too determined to be killed so easily. Plus your pets would have been upset with me." His gaze landed on the three Leaf ninja. "They are what you fight for? Your home? Your friends? The people you care for? Your pets? You are their tool as much as I am for my master. But your different."

Naruto felt a mix of emotions that he could not understand as he continued to stare at the boy he had befriended less then 24 hours ago. Someone he had hoped would have been a long time friend turned out to be a very dangerous enemy. He did not how to feel, or what to do.

"I seem to have outlived my usefulness." Haku stated solemnly. "I am a broken and useless tool that can no longer serve his master. Kill me so that I may die while doing what my master wanted."

Naruto could only shake his head no.

Sakura, seeing that something had happened between the two decided to stay out of the situation while Sasuke was simply too weak to do much of anything but glare.

Haku pulled several senbon out from within his outfit. "Then i will make you kil-!" He stopped mid threat when his eyes widened as a rush of chakra rushed over him.

"I still have one more task." He mumbled before suddenly vanishing in a splash of water. Not soon after, the leaf shinobi felt the same and dashed as fast as they could to were Kakashi and Zabuza had been fighting.

They came upon the sight of Kakashi thrusting his electricity covered arm right through the chest of a suddenly appearing Haku. The boy did not seem to notice as he tried to pull Kakashi's arm out from the bleeding hole, only to stop moving completely and slump over.

It was fast. The boy died then and there. No fanfare or great battle to the death like the stories that were told in the history books. The shinobi passed doing the one thing he had sworn to do; protect his master at any cost. He had succeeded with the cost being his young life.

Zabuza stood shocked for a moment before reaching for his sword and attempting to cleave right through both Haku's body and Kakashi. The jonin was able to leap out of the way while carrying the corpse.

"The Hell is wrong with you?!" Naruto shouted he jumped in between the rouge ninja and his instructor and blocked his next attack with his own kunai; just barely deflecting the attack away.

"He died for you!" Naruto shouted. "You were everything to him and you were just going to cut him up like that?" Naruto threw one of his weapons at the man; it sailed by harmlessly as the boy's growing tears blocked his vision. "You were his world, everything he ever cared for. And you would destroy his body just like it was trash."

Zabuza stopped moving.

"Did he mean nothing to you?!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs.

The bridge was silent for what felt like hours until Zabuza's gravely voice broke it.

"He meant more to me than anything else in the world." Zabuza said as he look Naruto straight in the eyes. Memories of him and his young ward filled his mind; and the sadness of knowing that they will never happen again broke him. Tears visibly streaked his face. He had never realized how much the boy had earnestly cared for him until seeing the life drain from his eyes. It was only then that Zabuza realized how much he actually cared for the now dead shinoi. Regret filled his heart.

A slow clap could be heard coming from the uncompleted end of the bridge. Zabuza cleared the mist to reveal the short and round Gato with an entire army of thugs and rogue samurai standing behind him. On either side of the short man sat two completely naked women; their bodies thin enough that their rips could be clearly seen. It was clear that they had not properly eaten in days.

"What a great show this has been." The short man chuckled while peering at the ninja through a pair of small sunglasses. He turned his head slightly to the Leave shinobi. "I am a bit disappointed however; I thought you would killed Zabuza by now."

Said assassin just made a grunt while smirking underneath his facial bindings. "You never intended to pay us did you?"

"Of course not." Gato chuckled. "Why would I pay two people the same amount when i can split that among all this fine gentlemen? It just wouldn't be good business."

"Good thing I didn't like you in the first place." Zabuza reached for his blade. "Hey kid." He addressed Naruto. "Haku told me what you can do. Mind bringing me back so that I can kill this fat fuck?"

Naruto did not have time to respond before Zabuza drew his large blade and dashed straight into the crowd of soldiers. Only to be stopped in his tracks by a hail of arrows. The man was dead before his body even hit the ground.

"That was easier then I thought." Gato chuckled.

"Really?" Naruto suddenly asked as a sudden reached and raspy gasp erupted from behind him and his team.

Out from behind the group walk what appeared to be an incredibly emaciated and lanky body with every inch of skin being completely frostbitten. No eyes, no air, no nose, and no body jaw with a stiff and sharp tongue were the only features of it's blackened head. That and the occasional spikes of frozen blood that poked out in random places. The arms were so long that the new creature was forced to keep it's long bony arms bent to prevent it's long and bloody talons from dragging on the ground. It's legs were thin and long and ended with feet encased in a shell of frozen blood. Every time the creature moved, small bits of ice would fall from various parts of it's body and it's joints would constantly crack. The monster was constantly shaking and shivering; as if it was always cold and could never get warm.

The simply designed monster walked over next to it's new master and tilted it's head at Zabuza's fallen body. The creature's basic appearance makes sense if one realizes that there is only so much that can be done with completely frozen muscle and organs

"Do you remember?" Naruto asked the creature without taking his eyes away from Gato. The boy's team slowly moved into better fighting positions on the bridge while the thugs were distracted by the new monster.

The beast did not show any sign that it had heard the boy.

"Huh," Naruto sighed. "Rest in piece Haku." He said quietly. The creature looked from Zabuza'a body then at Gato and back again. It did this several times before staring at Gato and letting out a long, raspy and shivered scream.

"Seems some memories might remain." Sasuke mumbled.

"Either that or it just knows how it needs to kill to make it's master happy." Kakashi whispered in retort.

"Not yet The Frozen." Naruto addressed the monster. "We should wait until your friend can join."

Gato and his men were already put off by The Tormentor but were confident that they would be able to take it down eventually. The inclusion of this Frozen creature was only slightly alarming. The now violently twitching and shacking body of Zabuza was even more disconcerting.

Naruto glanced at the body before looking back at the group of thugs and taking a small step towards the corpse. He suddenly found several dozen weapons pointed directly at him. The Frozen and Tormentor both gave low hissing growls at the threat towards their master.

The boy took another; the weapons remained pointed at him, but nothing else happened. This had become a sort of stalemate between the two groups; as long as Naruto did not step towards their boss they would not attack, and in turn they would not have to worry about the rotten beasts protecting the boy as well as his team of trained assassins.

Naruto still did not take his eyes away from the crowd. Neither did his teammates or his creations.

He approached the body before gently kicking the blade tip of Zabuza's massive sword in the direction of Gato.

"A-Are you threatening me boy?!" Gato shouted while trying to sound like he was somehow in control of the whole situation. Naruto did not respond as Zabuza's body began to change.

The first of which was the eyes sinking deep into their sockets and all hair being absorbed into the skin. The cranial and sinus regions of the skull became dis-articulated from the neck as the jaw pulled away from the skull; tearing the cheeks to the point of nonexistence, making the mouth able to open wide enough to easily fit a full grown adult's head into. Every tooth in the corpse's upper jaw were absorbed into the skull, along with most of the palate region vanishing within the throat. In their place sprouted a pair of multi-jointed appendages ending in a pair of sharp, jagged bony fangs. The bottom jaw split in two and curved into similar fanged appendages while the chin fused with neck into an almost immovable structure. Meaning that to bite, the creature would have to move it's entire skull instead of just the bottom jaw like it's once living body would have.

The body's arms became more muscular and developed while the fingers became long bladed claws. The thumb of each had tore itself away from it's original position and moved to the front of the wrists as the hands dislocated themselves; turning them into animal-like paws, in the most demented sense of the word. The creature's spine grew and grew until the ridging tore the back open and extended the spinal column, a clear sign that this new monstrosity was going to be able to move in ways not meant for a normal human.

The monster flipped onto it's back and started to viciously tear at the pants that contained it's lower portion until they were gone; revealing the flesh on it's legs being flayed and the muscles fusing and twisting together into one long appendage. Every bone was pulled out of the fused limb and was converted into matter to be added to the rest of the creature's skeletal system.

Naruto slowly knelt down. "Take it." He whispered.

The strands of muscle and tissue at the end of the creature's new tail reached out and grasped the handle of Zabuza's sword; breaking the grip and hilt away from the blade and absorbing a portion of the blade into the new fleshy appendage. This ended up turning the undead beast's flexible tail into a nasty bladed weapon.

The creature flipped back onto it's stomach and looked up at it's master.

"Wha-wha?" Gato stuttered. "What the fuck did you do?"

Naruto looked at the man with a heavily judgmental look as he stood up. "I simply gave the man his last request." He looked down at the excited monster. "You should be careful." Naruto sent a nast smirk at the mob boss. "He can be quiet a Leaper."

"K-kill them! Kill all of them!" Gato shouted. His men hesitated for a moment before all drawing their weapons and letting out a loud cry of war. Only to have their shout be answered by the collective roars, snarls, and screams of Naruto's own undead army; slowly making it's way across the bridge, brandishing claws, teeth, and tentacles all itching to tear at any exposed flesh.

The monsters walked past Kakashi and his other two students and stood directly behind Naruto.

"I should warn you." He said as his legs suddenly gave out and he feel to his knees. "I've never let go before!" He shouted loudly; a sign for his team to get as far away as possible. Sasuke was sure to grab Tazuna as he Sakura and Kakashi ran off the bridge.

"Fucking kill them all!" Gato shouted. His men charged forward.

"Have fun." Naruto said as he let go of all control he had over the monsters. For a moment, a split second, the smallest iota of time; the creatures did not move. Then they all charged; killing the only thing on their mind. Making their family bigger and protecting their master was only thing that existed within their limited minds. They held no concern for their own well being as blade and arrows pierced decayed flesh. They simply continued forward until their own organic weapons found their own marks.

It was a nightmare.

The humans had no chance against the undead masses. A few were able to cut off a limb or two, but that did little to nothing to slow down the living murder machines. Even worse was that with every thug that fell, not ten seconds later would start changing and would join the undead horde; making the small army even bigger.

Naruto fell onto his back and stared up at the clear bright blue sky; the sounds of clashing weapons and death screams echoed through his mind. Good thing he was used to such horrors from his container's nearly constant attempts at breaking his mind. He was just happy at the break from trying to control the entire horde of monsters. He had no idea how he was going to make it back to his home village with all of them.

As the shouts started to die down, Naruto slowly sat up and watched the last of the hired thugs try to run away; only to have several nasty blades pierce their vulnerable flesh.

There was a meticulous nature to how the undead monsters killed their prey. Where a normal soldier would deal a single lethal blow and leave the victim to eventually die; these beasts always insured their victim's demise. There was a zero percent probability of a target ever walking away alive. And the thugs on the bridge were proof enough of that fact.

One tried to jump off the bridge only to have a Slasher stab into the man's back and pull him back. Instead of pulling it's blade out of the clearly dying man; like the samurai of old would have, the Slasher stabbed into the man with it's other arm into the man while slamming him to the ground. Tearing it's arms free before repeatedly slashing and stabbing at the dying man until every possible sign of life was gone. No remorse or hesitation could be seen in the creature's as they went about their bloody work. They were not animals.

They were true monsters.

"Bring me the fat one." Naruto ordered as he witnessed a Puker's acidic bile melt away the skull of the last thug. The young ninja could not see what had happened to the two women that had accompanied Gato. They were probably already amongst his ranks of the undead.

He knew he should feel bad about knowing that the two clearly innocent women had been killed in most likely a very brutal fashion. But the knowledge that their souls had been freed from their earthly torment and that their bodies will be used to protect their new home kinda' made up for it in Naruto's slightly cracked mind.

A sudden shout notified Naruto of Gato's capture. The tired boy turned his head to see the man being dragged across the hard bridge by a Slasher's; the monster's blade having gone straight through the short man's leg. With a might swing, the Slasher slide Gato's struggling form in front of it's master.

"You've caused this village a lot of trouble." Naruto stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "I could just have my pets tear you apart, or I could leave your fate to the villagers." Naruto slowly got up on his shaking legs, he had to hold onto the shoulder of a nearby Puker for balance. "But I'm just a genin and it is not my place to determine that."

Naruto curled into a ball for a moment before throwing his head back as several bright red tentacles launched themselves out of his gut and quickly snatched up any body parts that were left on the bridge before retreating back into the seal.

"Damn." The young ninja mumbled. "That's another ruined shirt."

He turned to face the direction of the village and where his teammates were waiting; several of the undead monsters gave excited snarls in hopes of continuing their festival of slaughter. Naruto had just enough energy to command his soldiers not to kill his fellow ninja, or the nearby village. He had to use the Puker almost completely as support to walk forward; keeping his army under control took a lot more out of the Uzumaki then he had thought. There had to be another way to control them, or at least an easier way.

As Naruto slowly walked forward, the undead beasts followed while pushing Gato along on his injured leg.

Seeing their teammate stumbling towards them and the relative calm nature of his monsters; Naruto's teammates made their way to meet him halfway across the bridge.

"Fucking shit kid." Gato cursed as the bladed tail of the transformed Zabuza jammed itself hard into his back. "I should have killed that old man months ago."

Naruto did not respond.

"You think your hot shit don't you?" Gato tried to force a reaction out of the brat. If he was going to die, he was going to die pissing off his killer. "You ain't nothin'. You call yourself a ninja? Ha! Your just a little cowardly baby hiding behind the monster's he keeps under his bed."

Again, no reaction from Naruto. The boy was simply too drained to care about what the man had to say. He had done almost nothing to entire day, yet felt like he had been training for seventy-two straight hours. He could say without any exaggeration, that keeping his undead minions under control was the most difficult thing he has ever had to do.

Worse yet, Naruto was unsure if he could even go to sleep. With how many new additions to his family, there was no telling if his inner beast would do something or not. Until he had a way of knowing for sure that nothing would happen, Naruto could not afford to fall asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 10**

* * *

After the battle at the bridge, Naruto and his team decided to leave Gato's fate up to the citizens of the village he had tormented for so long. If anyone was to punish the crime lord it was most fitting to be them. After all, the ninja had been hired to only see to Tazuna's safety, not the death of a criminal. Nothing that the ninja could do to the man would compare to what the villagers had planned.

A few days later and it was time for the ninja to leave the small fishing village. Everyone was fully rested and healed up from the previous confrontation; all except Naruto who appeared exhausted and worn out. The boy's fear of loosing control of his undead companions drove him to stop sleeping all together; that coupled with the constant barrage of mental attacks from his inner monster did not help with the boy's slowly cracking sanity. Besides the usual sluggish and delayed reactions and movements that normally come to one who has not slept for a long time; periodically Naruto would suddenly jerk and look around violently as if something had startled him. He would sometimes mumble nonsensical things to himself and twitch suddenly.

This was not something that Kakashi could ignore; but the trained assassin did not dare to confront Naruto about his current condition lest he break the already fragile window holding back Naruto's mind. He wisely ordered Sasuke and Sakura to so the same; at least until the jonin had a chance to speak with the Hokage.

The humans were not the only ones worried about the usually energetic blond. His own undead creations showed signs of genuine concern for the Uzumaki. While he usually had at least his two Stalkers walking with him wherever he went; now at least half a dozen of his creatures were around the boy with at least two of them being in physical contact with the boy in some way. Their master usually stood tall with a large smile adorning his face; Now he walked with a slouch and could barely open his mouth let alone smile. This was not normal. This was not right. They needed to get their master back to the place where he would sleep.

Everyone said their good-bye's before heading for the road that would lead them home.

Everyone walked in silence except for the occasional snarl or growl from one of the many monster's belonging to the blond team member. Naruto was too exhausted to actually walk and was forced to ride upon the Tormentor's back during the trip back home.

The week-long trek back home was the most unnerving that the group of ninja ever had. Naruto, obviously, told his friends why he refused to sleep, but his undead minions did not understand his reasoning; or half the words he even said. So, while the humans tried their best to keep Naruto awake, his beasts became more and more agitated and aggressive as the trip grew nearer and nearer to it's end.

It was small things during the first few day; sudden twitching and staring at the humans, nothing that would alert the ninja to any real changes. But it was on the day that the group arrived at the village did things get a little out of hand. If the humans even dared to look at Naruto for just a moment too long, the undead monsters would make loud roars and violent gestures if not outright attempt to attack the Leaf shinobi.

Nothing was getting near their master.

The team decided to wisely keep their distance until the large walls of the Village Hidden in the Leaves came into view . This was a good sign of relief for the ninja, as well as one of great concern. There was no telling what would happen if a civilian got just a little too close to Naruto. They had to think of something fast. Except for Naruto; he couldn't really think at all at the moment.

Kakashi and his subordinates did not have to present their ID's or any other sign of their citizenship to the gate guards; the small army of undead nightmares was all that was needed as proof. The guards had to move a good distance from their post as the necrotic monsters made to attack them once they got too close to their passing master.

"Why don't you all wait here while I go and give my report?" Kakashi strongly suggested to his students as they approached the large decorative bridge that connected the main entrance to the main districts of the large village. The completely sane and focused Sasuke and Sakura instantly knew what their instructor was planning; while Naruto was too focused on trying to ignore the loud screams of pain and agony echoing through his rattled skull.

Sasuke and Sakura gave each other a somewhat uneasy glance before the former decided to go sulking near the railing overlooking the nearby waterway.

Sakura gave Sasuke's back a slightly disappointed look before looking at Naruto's limp body laying atop the Tormentor's thorny back. The boy's eyes were completely unfocused; his mouth moved almost in a constant chanting motion and the rest of him would violently spasm and twitch at random intervals. Sakura desperately wanted to help her friend, but had no idea how. It was impossible to comfort the drained boy either verbally or physically as his undead guardians would lash out violently if she were to show even the smallest hint at making a movement towards their master.

Their slowly growing in volume snarls and roars of the beasts warned Sakura to look away unless she wished to end up joining their family.

The genin did not have to wait too long for Kakashi to return; the Hokage and his usual guards following soon after.

"Lord Hokage?" Sakura questioned. The old man gave the girl a stern glance before looking at Naruto. The boy slowly turned his hazy gaze towards the village leader after hearing Sakura's words.

"Kakashi explained everything." Sarutobi started. "What do you need?" His words demanded Naruto give him an immediate answer while still expressing an amazing amount of concern for the young orphan. One of his soldiers, as well as favorite people within the village, was in a state of pain and had been for longer then he ever should have been. As village leader, it was this man's job to make the lives of every single citizen happy. And Naruto was clearly not happy in any definition of the word.

Naruto rolled over. "...Sewer to grow death..." He tried his best to focus on what to tell his village leader. "...All rotten to join to one..." He shook his head hard. "...Very big...Need a lot..."

Sarutobi had a small bit of difficulty trying to understand his underling's words, but was able to get the basic gist.

"Do what you need to. You can explain it all once you've gotten some sleep." The Hokage authorized.

Naruto looked forward blankly for a moment before a weak smile appeared on his young face. "...It started..." His eyes closed and he fell off the Tormentor and hit the ground rather hard.

His undead army all gave growls of worry and concern for their master. The creatures looked down at the boy before slowly raising their heads, as if they could hear a voice talking to them.

Almost instantly, their aggression vanished and they were back to their normal selves. No more growls, snarls or violent gestures towards the other humans; just the usual movements and sounds that each undead creature usually made. The group slowly began to disperse and make their way through the village; off to do whatever they pleased.

Except for Naruto's two personal bodyguards; the two Stalkers crouched down and stared at their unconscious master while occasionally looking at one another and giving a few clicks and groans.

Sarutobi sighed before a small smile formed on his face. "I think he'll be fine now." He looked at Sakura and Sasuke. "Naruto can give me his report once he wakes up. You two; come with me back to the Tower and give me your own reports." Back to the daily grind it was.

Sakura looked at the village leader for a moment before looking at Naruto's sleeping form with a worried expression. Sasuke was already making his way to the Hokage's Tower.

"That idiot's fine." He stated without even giving the girl a single glance.

"Come Sakura." Kakashi said while giving his student a hidden but gentle smile. "I don't think anything will happen to Naruto with those two around."

The pink-haired girl gave her teammate one final glance before a loud snore caused a relieved smile to form on her face. She had been so worried about Naruto during their entire trip home, but seeing him sleeping so peacefully was enough to put her mind at ease.

The two Stalkers were both pleased while at the same time concerned. They had been fearful of their master's condition; he had not closed his eyes and laid nearly motionless for days and his physical and mental condition had drastically deteriorated because of it. They could not understand why, but they had known that it was not right and that their master was vulnerable in his broken state. They needed to react aggressively to the other living beings around him or else they might have harmed him.

But now, his eyes had finally closed and he had stopped nearly all movements. He had finally entered that catatonic state that still confused his undead creations. At first, great concern entered every undead creature, but their master's command told them not to be. This command did not come from their master though, and appeared to come from all around them.

It made every creature feel a feeling of security that had never existed in the history of existence. It made them feel as if no matter where they were, their master was always with them.

Now a different problem had arisen. Their master had become catatonic, but not in a secure location; he was vulnerable. The two Stalkers argued shortly over what they should do before finally agreeing on what to do about the current situation.

The two creatures looked at each other before one gave the other a very annoyed bark. The other gave it's own annoyed cry before backing away and dashing off in an unknown direction while the other stayed to guard their master.

While it slowly circled it's master; the Stalker observed the world around it. Family members going about tasks that their master's omnipotent presence had asked of them. Living creatures going about doing strange and curious things that none of the undead would ever be able to fully understand.

"Um." A soft voice alerted the Stalker to it's partner's return. "Wh-what are you doing?" It turned to see the other Stalker pulling a confused Hinata by the arm. The creature would bark and cry loudly at the girl as it would pull her along as she tripped over it's and her own feet. Humans were far too slow and clumsy.

The guarding Stalker gave joyful cries and bounds as the girl was pulled closer to their master. The Stalker pulling the girl suddenly let go for the Hyuga before quickly getting behind her and pushing her towards it's master with it's hard head.

Hinata looked down at Naruto's sleeping body before looking at the two Stalkers hopping about and screeching unknown commands to the girl.

"N-Naruto?" Young Hinata knelled down next to the boy's head. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "N-Naruto?"

A loud snore and him rolling onto his side answered the girl's unanswered question.

The Hyuga gave a sigh. "What are you doing? Falling asleep out here." She mumbled to herself before taking a hold of the boy's arm and hooking it over her shoulder. "Huh. Lot lighter then I thought." She said to nobody.

The two Stalkers watched Hinata carry-drag the boy towards his apartment. Amazed and confused at how she was able to handle their unconscious master without accidentally tearing any flesh or breaking any bones. They quickly followed the girl as she semi-dragged Naruto's body through the village.

Hinata; being who she was, knew exactly where Naruto lived, even the exact apartment. Getting him up the flight of stairs was a bit annoying since his feet would keep hitting each individual step.

The young girl looked at Naruto's apartment door before looking at the boy's sleeping face; an unholy and wicked smile split her face. She had to get Naruto inside his apartment, and his keys must be inside his pant's pocket. So didn't it make since for her to reach in and get said keys to open his front door?

Hinata licked her lips as her free hand reached down and into Naruto's front pant's pocket. Her soft fingers could fee the hard metal of Naruto's keys almost instantly; but we all know that isn't what she was really looking for. She reached even further, pushing as much of her arm into Naruto's pocket as the fabric was willing to allow before she reached her true prize.

Feeling the sudden heat and shape of her goal caused Hinata's twisted grin to grow even larger. Her tongue slowly made it's way out of her mouth as her hand continued to explore her new treasure. Her hand moved around her prize as it slowly began to enlarge; making Hinata's mind to start going wild.

Without skipping a beat; the girl yanked Naruto's keys out of his pocket, unlocked his front door and dashed into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind her. She knew she had to take advantage of this rare opportunity. She would have to be insane not to. That snake woman would if she didn't, Hinata just knew it.

Hinata bolted straight for Naruto's bedroom; ignoring the rest of the apartment and the confused undead creatures inside, before nearly throwing Naruto's body onto his bed. Her heart was beating so fast that she feared it would explode out of her young chest; she was more excited now then she had ever been.

The Hyuga took a moment to scan over Naruto's sleeping form; admiring his cute face before allowing her eyes to trail down towards the tent she had helped form in the boy's orange pants. The girl had to take a few calming breaths before she could approach Naruto's sleeping form; her hands slowly reaching towards her prize. Every single inch she moved; the girl's eyes darted back in forth from the little tent to Naruto's eyes; paranoia eating it's way through her mind.

A soft hand delicately caressed the tent in Naruto's pants while another reached up to the rim and hooked a few fingers over the waistband. Her eyes instantly focused on the waistband as it was slowly pulled down, past his boxers and over his homemade tent.

The girl pulled away for a moment to see how much bigger the tent really was without being covered by those bothersome pants. She knew that she could easily just reach in through the slit of the boy's underwear to reach her prize; but this was going to be her first time seeing it face-to-face. This was special.

Hinata had to take a few deep breaths before steadying her hands. Her fingers still trembled, however, as they slowly touched both of Naruto's hips and slid up until her thumbs were able to hook themselves on the rim of her loves' boxer-shorts. Her tongue snaked it's way out of her mouth and pressed hard against her upper lip as she focused all of her attention on the task at hand.

With a gentle tug, the garment began to slide down the boy's hips. The waistband neared the tent and was slowly lifted so as to not get caught on a certain appendage. One final pull, and the boy's boxers were now just above his knees and Hinata had now come face-to-face with her long awaited goal.

Hinata's mouth opened as drool started to leak over her lips; her crazed expression nearing that seen on a psychopath. Naruto's erect cock was so much more amazing to behold then she had ever imagined; despite 'seeing' it hundreds of times using her all-seeing eyes. Said eyes instantly went to the all-important task of memorizing every last detail of the glorious member. Every single detail possible was seen and instantly stored within they Hyuga's young mind.

With every twitch the penis made; Hinata's desire to do an innumerable amount of things to said appendage increased a thousand fold. One of her hands had traveled underneath her heavy coat and shirt and was firmly groping one of her shapely breasts; the other was slowly inching towards the tasty cock in front of her. Closer, closer; she could feel the burning heat radiating from the appendage as her hand came closer.

"Hmph."

Faster than even the most well trained eye could see; Hinata hiked up both Naruto's boxers and pants, put a blanket over the boy and sat on the floor right next to the bed in the most innocent fashion humanly possible. The very look of complete and total lust and insanity completely gone.

Naruto rolled over and continued to snooze away.

Seeing that her panic was completely unwarranted; Hinata let her head fall in a combination of relief, embarrassment and shame. Just thinking about all of the lewd things she was going to do to Naruto brought the girl a feeling of great self-loathing that she knew would probably go away after a good masturbation session.

She really should have known better than to try anything while her love was asleep and vulnerable.

"Next time I'll be sure he is wide awake." She said to herself; insane expression back in full.

The Hyuga took a long look at Naruto's sleeping face; her own facial features softening to a gentle smile. She leaned over, pushed one of her bangs behind her ear before gently pressing her soft lips against Naruto's cheek. She stayed like that for some time before standing straight, saying a silent goodbye to the sleeping youth and leaving the apartment; actually taking note of the several undead monsters as well as what appeared to be a wall of meat coming out of what was once the store room.

Hours passed within that same apartment. Then days. All the while Naruto continued to sleep. Except for one moment.

His sleeping form suddenly sat straight up. A small smile slowly formed on the boy's face before growing wider and wider to the point where it became almost unnatural in appearance. His eyes burst open and a small chuckle escaped his lips. The chuckle quickly grew in intensity until it became a full blown laugh. Said laugh grew even further into an unhinged cackle that echoed loudly throughout the village, sending a wave of dread over the land while all of the undead monster stopped in their work momentarily to stare off into the direction of their beloved master.

After about a full five days of continues sleep, Naruto's eyes slowly opened and he sat up to stretch the stiffness out of every single joint in his body. The sound of his popping joints echoed within his small room. The sound of his bedroom door opening drew Naruto's attention to his very first Slasher. The creature tilted it's head slightly at it's master.

"I'm up, I'm up." Naruto groaned as he swung his feet off the bed and onto the floor. Only, instead of feeling the soft carpet under his feet; Naruto felt warm, slimy meat. He looked down to see the fleshy growth that had originated within a small room having grown enough to spread all over his apartment floor and start crawling up the walls.

Considering the importance the nasty mess was to his creations, Naruto simply made an annoyed expression before getting out of bed and going about his usual morning routine before leaving his small home.

Naruto instantly started to head towards the Hokage's Tower; he still had a mission report to give out and it had been drilled deep into Naruto's thick skull that one was to **always** give their mission report, no matter what. On his way, Naruto could see his undead minions dragging whatever dead organic matter they could find and tossing it into any sewer access way.

 _"Make...Bigger."_ The words echoed through Naruto's head. The boy nodded in both agreement and understanding. It did not take Naruto long to reach his destination.

"Good to see you awake." Old man Sarutobi said upon Naruto entering his office.

"Sorry." Naruto said embarrassed.

The old man gave a smile at seeing someone he cared so deeply for in much better condition than the last time he was seen. His smile instantly vanished as now was the time for business, not fun.

"Report." The old man's voice was firm. Naruto gave his own mission report and was about to leave when the village leader decided to speak up.

"Before you go, Naruto. I would like to know why your little friends have been taking trash and digging up graves. I had to get involved a few days ago when a group of them attempted to take all of the food out of a local grocer. Now I would like to believe that there is a very good reason behind this behavior." Hiruzen's expression showed no signs of mirth and expressed just how serious these unusual actions were to the potential safety of his village.

"They are making something that'll not only help control them, but also be a great defense for the village." Naruto answered enthusiastically. "It's just really really big so it needs all that it can get to be fully made. It's using the sewer system for now, but it'll get too big and will start to make it's own tunnels." Naruto clapped his hands together and bowed towards the Hokage. "I promise that it won't do anything bad. I swear I can still control it and all the others if I have to."

Hiruzen gave the boy a long and hard look before sighing heavily and reaching for his pipe. "Fine, but I will need to you keep them hidden for a while. The Chunin Exams are coming up and I would prefer if the representatives from the other villages were not aware of our little secret army."

This news excited Naruto to no end. A chance to show off how amazing a ninja he was as well as get one step closer to becoming the Hokage? How could he possibly pass up that kind of opportunity? The instant he saw Kakashi again, Naruto was going to bug the ever loving Hell out of the man to let him take the exam; whatever it actually was.

Naruto took his leave from the Hokage's office and was actually able to bump into his teacher on the way to his favorite restaurant. Before the young lad could even open his mouth, Kakashi silently handed him a small stack of papers before pulling out his favorite book and vanishing in a swirl of leaves. But not before giving Naruto a silent smile and telling him about a tram meeting a few days away.

Kakashi knew that his students were ready to take the next big step in their carriers. They arguably had a small advantage over their peers in having already dealt with bloodshed and death, all thanks to Naruto's pets. But how much of an advantage the experience will give them was not known to the one-eyes jonin.

Naruto arrived at his favorite restaurant and was slightly caught off guard upon seeing Hinata Hyuga's older cousin and his team sitting at the bar. Naruto was introduced to the older team a year ago while hanging around with his good friend. He found the stoic and harsh older Hyuga to be hard to get along with while his teammates were a lot more bearable by comparison.

Naruto took a seat at the bar and waited for the owner's attractive young daughter to come and take his order.

"Ah!" The green suit wearing, bowl-cut, bug-eyed, taijutsu using member of the team shouted upon seeing the young blond take his seat. "If it isn't Neji's cousin's dear friend!" The young man instantly hopped a seat over to get closer to the blond.

Naruto gave his usual happy grin. Lee was a loud guy, but was never negative or boring. Naruto liked the older teen.

"How's it going?" Naruto asked as Ayame came over to take the boy's order.

"Things have been very well!" Lee shouted. "I have increased the number of push-ups I do daily by five hundred!" The bushy-browed boy pumped a fist into the air. "I will soon become the strongest martial artiest in the world!" A fire burned in the young man's eyes and he appeared to go off into a world all of his own.

The bun-haired weapon's expert of the team tried her best to ignore her teammate and tried to indulge herself as far as she could into both the meal she was eating, and the book she had brought with her.

Neji just sat and ate with the same annoyed expression he always had.

Everyone ate their food while idly talking about the going-ons in their lives. That is until someone else decided to show up.

"Naruto? Your awake?"

Naruto turned his head slightly to see Sakura walking into the store; several dozen grocery bags hung from both of her arms.

Before Naruto could swallow his food and give a reply, Lee instantly jumped to his feet, stood straight and stiff. "I am Rock Lee of the Hidden Leave Village!" He shouted. "I am unable to use chakra and instead use only martial arts! I dream to become the strongest ninja without the use of chakra in the world!" The boy bowed his head down to fast that the very air around him nearly caught fire. He took in a deep breath.

"Sakura Haruno! Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me!" He blurted at the top of his lungs.

Naruto instantly started to violently choke on his food while Tenten had to hold in a nasty giggle fit.

Neji actually showed a greater level of annoyance is nothing else.

Sakura stammered a bit after recovering from the shock of the sudden confession. Not many people tried to ask her out; afraid of the combination of her inhuman strength and short temper.

Rock Lee bright red face was unseen due to him still being in a bowed position; his eyes clenched shut in a combination of embarrassment and fear. He knew he was not the best looking guy around and even Tenten has told him how unattractive his loud personality could be. But Lee was nothing if not determinate.

"Um." Sakura tried to think of a response, her own face had turned a shade of red. She had met Lee only a small handful of times due partly to Naruto. But their conversations all together totaled to about twenty minutes. The girl looked at her still choking teammate for help. His blue face offered none.

She looked over at the only other girl around her age; who suddenly found a very specific page in her book to be very very interesting. Sakura's eyes were forced to return to Lee's bowed form. She didn't hate the guy, but she also hardly knew him. From what little information Naruto had ever told her of the guy, he wasn't too bad. A little loud probably, but she could do so much worse.

Sakura gave a heavy. "Alright." She nearly whispered.

"W-what?" Lee looked up, his body still bent at a ninety-degree angle.

"I'll go on a date with you." Sakura quickly held up one finger. "But if _one_ thing goes wrong. It's all on you."

Lee's body stood straight up. His face was one of shock before slowly melting into a brimming smile that almost could have rivaled Naruto's. Lee started to bow to the girl repeatedly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Oh, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity!" The boy quickly rushed over and grabbed all Sakura's groceries. "In return I must help you carry these home!"

In a flash, the boy was gone.

"Hey wait!" Sakura shouted after the quickly departing figure. She stopped just before leaving the restaurant and turned to look at Naruto. "It's good to see you back up and going, Naruto." She quickly chased after Lee. "You don't even know where I live!"

Naruto finally swallowed and gasped for air while Tenten's constant giggling filled the shop air. The boy could hear Ayame trying to stifle her own giggles and failing.

Girls are weird.


	11. Chapter 11

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 11**

* * *

The next two weeks for Naruto and his little gaggle of friends was filled almost entirely with nonstop training for the upcoming Chunin Exams. Missions were the farthest thing from their young minds as they pushed their bodies to the breaking point almost every day of the week.

Everything else continued as normal; except for the village market and business district suddenly exploding with surplus and sales the day before ninja and representatives from the other ninja villages started arriving. That same day, every single one of Naruto's undead creations simply vanished from the village without even the smallest hint that they had ever existed. The beings had become so common around the large village that it felt almost unnatural **not** seeing a heavily mutated severed arm crossing the road or an undead relative dumping a dead dog into a manhole.

Naruto was advised to avoid any unnecessary interaction with any visiting ninja; just in case they turned out to be too hostile for his creatures' comfort. The fact that none of his creations were even close to being seen by anyone; let alone any highly trained enemy assassins, showed that the blonde-headed ninja was actually capable of keeping himself _out_ of trouble.

 _"Intruders."_ The voice from under the Earth stated urgently within Naruto's delicate mind.

"It's alright." Naruto tried to reassure his ultimate ace while he and his team walked to the academy. Today was the day the exams were to begin and Naruto was too excited to even worry about the mental manipulation his occupant continued to attempt. The annoying entity had been trying to lord control over that mass under the ground ever since it's conception, yet has failed at every attempt.

Upon entering the school, Naruto's little group met up with Rock Lee's and both made their way to the large classroom that all of the ninja taking the exam were to met.

"I really hope this doesn't turn out to be the written kind of exam." Naruto bemused. Getting a slight chuckle from Tenten.

Said bunheaded girl leaned in closer to the Sakura and whispered into her ear. "How are you able to focus on anything when you got those two cute boys sweating up a storm around you?"

The pink-haired girl gave the older girl an unreadable look while holding onto Lee's hand. The first date that the two had gone on was too awkwardly painful to explain; but Lee's earnest attempts at trying to keep Sakura happy was enough for the girl to give the boy an attempt at a relationship and she agreed to go out with him a bit more.

"I mean look at those." Tenten whispered while glancing at both Sasuke and Naruto's rear ends. "It's hard not to imagine what those look would look like in Lee's tight outfit."

Before Sakura could retort, the group had reached the door.

"Ready?" Sakura asked as they all looked at the door.

Naruto answered for everyone by pushing on the twin doors and into the large classroom. Every single ninja in said room turned to see who the new arrivals were.

"The one time I don't want everyone's attention." Naruto muttered.

"Well you are wearing a bright orange suit and Lee is so bright green he'd get lost in a freshly watered front lawn." Sakura snarked.

"Let's not forget your outlandishly pink hair." Tenten butted in. Both Sasuke and Neji rolled their eyes at their respective teammates stupidity. Sasuke a little bit more than the older Hyuga.

"Sakura's hair is the loveliest color that has ever existed." Lee tried to defend his lady friend. He knew there was no hostility in Tenten's words; the poor lad simply did not want the brash and incredibly strong Sakura to see him as weak, either physically or emotionally.

"Could you all please stop talking." Both Sasuke and Neji groaned.

"You should listen to your friends." A tall, glasess-wearing Sound Village shinobi suggested as he approached the group.

"And why is that?" Sakura retorted. She was not fond of random people trying to order her around; even if the advise they gave was useful.

"Because your in a room full of people just itching to kill you." The teenager adjusted his glasses. "So I suggest you keep it down before your lie span is significantly shortened."

"I don't think that would be good for anybody, anywhere." Naruto muttered. The cold glares that he and his friends were being given did not faze the young lad. He has felt colder things then what human glances can produce.

"I'm Kabuto by the way." The boy introduced himself. "This will be my third time taking the Chunin Exams."

"Third?" Sasuke was the one to actually ask that question.

"Yes, third." Kabuto repeated himself in an annoyed tone. "I can get through the first part no problem but it's usually the second part I can never seem to get past."

"If that is true." Sakura piped up. "Then you can tell us what to expect up until the end of the second part."

Kabuto put on a somewhat arrogant smile. "I could." The boy once again readjusted his glasses. "But the real question is, "why should I help you?' We are all enemies to each other right now. Wouldn't it be just plain stupid to help my enemies?"

"While you do have a point." Sakura responded. "You don't have to be such an ass about it."

"You should all listen to the smart one and shut your stupid fucking mouths." A rude voice spoke up.

Naruto turned to see three ninja wearing Iwagakure headbands somewhere on their person. One of the male members of the team stood over a head taller than nearly everyone else in the room and had his entire head wrapped in bandages with a pair of dark goggles covering his eyes. He was built like a bear and was as imposing as one.

The female member of the team had what one would call a 'perfect figure' for someone her age. Her attire was designed to show off every one of her curves and draw every single gaze to her shapely form while completely distracted everyone from the large pair of clawed gauntlets hanging from her belt.

The last male member of the trio, and the apparent 'leader', was a rather plain and average looking boy. Nothing really stood out about him; except for the permanent sadistic and maniacal look of his eyes. An innumerable amount of scrolls lined the boy's chest, back, legs and arms.

"And just who are you?" Neji demanded; standing tall and just as overbearing as the bear-like ninja. He was not about to let some nobody from a foreign village show up the great Hyuga clan.

"All you morons need to know is that I'm the son the Iwakage and I don't plan on failing this stupid exam." The boy scoffed while looking at Sakura's bright hair. "Have any of you weak Leaf shinobi even seen death yet? That pink-haired bitch looks like she'd scream at the very sight of blood."

"Pardon?" Sakura asked in a scarily calm tone of voice as a large vein popped on her forehead. Almost instantly, every leaf ninja in the area moved as far away from the girl as physically possible.

The girl of the Rock ninja noticed and decided that she should probably do the same.

"Would you like to repeat what you called me?" Sakura asked through gritting teeth. Her temper was slowly increasing to a dangerous level. Even the unseen undead could tell that nothing good was to come from any of this.

"Your a dumb bitch." The kid scoffed. "Your a weak little Leaf shinobi. What of it?"

In a flash, Sakura had grasped the front of the boy's in a death grip and was pulling back her other fist with intent to sever the Iwakage's son's head from the rest of his body. Luckily for him; just before the deadly fist could even get close to his boring face, several Leaf shinobi suddenly appeared and quickly put a halt to everything.

After a long speech given by a heavily scared Leaf jonin; all exam participants were assigned a seat with a single sheet of paper on the long desks. After a very long and in detailed explanation of the first part of the exam and rules; which I refuse to rewrite here because Lord knows they would take up way too much space I could use for actual story development.

Naruto was in a bit of a panic. The questions on the exam were literally impossible to answer, neither of his teammates were seated even remotely close to him, and almost every fifteen or so minutes an exam student would be caught cheating and forced to leave the exam room. If he didn't somehow become a genius quickly, then Naruto was out of luck.

This simply just sucked.

* * *

Near the border that separated the Land of Fire from the Land of Wind stood a serene and beautiful forest hidden among the rest of the beautiful woods. A picturesque stream traveled through the peaceful land as a small herd of deer calmly nibbled at the sweet grasses that ran along the creek's bank. Small song birds chirped as they flitted about from branch to branch.

A gentle breeze was the only thing that disturbed the peace.

Carried by the wind, was a single strand of purple hair; somehow carried all the from it's original owner to this very spot. The world around it payed the hair no heed at all what so ever as the wind pushed it towards one of the many trees that covered the land.

At the base of said tree was a small cluster of fungus. Shining blue toadstools surrounded a tiny dark red puddle. All having been undisturbed for an untold amount of time. The fungi and the puddle had always been at that spot. Long before the planet's very conception; before the planet was even bits of space dust. Even when the Earth's very surface moved and shifted; the puddle and fungi never moved.

And nothing ever touched the puddle.

The breeze slowly dies down; bringing the single strand of hair towards the same tree. There was nothing that could stop the flow of wind and the force of gravity that lead the hair straight for the ever existing fungi and red ooze. There was nothing to stop the hair from slowly drifting towards and gently landing on the fungi. Nothing could be done to prevent the very tip of the hair strand from touching the surface of the ooze.

Nothing happened.

Without warning, the clump of toadstools and the puddle vanished and in their place stood an large beast curled up into a very tight ball. Even curled up, the beast stood a good head above the average human adult.

The creature's body and limbs were the same color as the toadstools and appeared to have the same brilliant sheen as they did. The creature's body was long and thin with every one of it's many ribs poking right through it's shining flesh. The being's long and thin legs were kept in a crouched position while it's beastly feet each ended in three large meat-hook shaped talons; all the same dark red as the puddle.

Behind the beast were five long tails that all appeared to have smaller tails branching off at random locations while a small row of spines ran along the creature's back. Near where the being's shoulders should be were a pair of abnormal wings that appeared to made up of nothing but very thick veins; no bones or skin anywhere.

The creature had six arms that all were just slightly thinner and than it's legs, but were just as much longer. Each arm ended in a seven fingered human-like hand with long dark red claws coming from were the fingernails would have been.

The head of the thing was a slightly curved oval-shaped with it's thin neck attaching right at the middle of the head's curve. The head lacked anything that could be recognized as facial features; instead, holes of varying shapes and sizes covered it's entire head with nothing but complete and total darkness being seen from within; as if not even light could survive within the beast's body. behind the top portion of it's head was a nest of massive tentacles constantly moving and acting as the creature's hair.

The monster slowly uncurled itself; revealing it to be a giant at nearly twelve feet in height, and slowly took a look at it's surroundings, not a single noise came from it until it looked down at one of it's clenched hands. It slowly opened it's hand and saw the small strand of hair that had touched it's inactive state of being.

It closed the hand once again before pulling it and another close to it's chest and lowering it's head in an almost prayer-like fashion.

A swarm of thoughts and memories flooded the creature's mind. It learned everything it needed to from the memories of the girl that the hair had grown from. Unfortunately, it also absorbed the hair.

The creature held it's head with it's other arms, almost as if hit was suffering a terribly headache.

It slowly swung it's head from side to side; turning the tentacles on the back of it's head to the same purple color as the hair it once held. It looked at all six of it's hands before looking straight forward.

"...My...Lover..." It whispered in a million feminine voices before suddenly sprinting in the direction of it's target.

* * *

Things were going from bad to worse for Naruto. He had only fifteen minutes left to finish the exam and he did not have even a single answer written down. The fact that Hinata had already finished did not make him feel any better.

What made the already awful situation even more terrible, was the fact that Naruto could have use some of his undead creations to help if the village leader had not ordered him to keep them all in hiding. Hell, Naruto knew that at least some of the smaller ones were hiding in the very ceiling directly above his young head.

Naruto gripped his head in frustration and tried his hardest to focus on the very first question.

Hinata just sat beside him with her usual, innocent expression while using her super eyes to stare continuously at Naruto's cock. She knew the boy was struggling; but there really wasn't anything she could do that wouldn't look like cheating and running the risk of both her and Naruto getting kicked out of the exam. So, the girl did the only thing should do; peep.

"Pencils down." The jonin in charge demanded. Instantly, every pencil stopped moving. Not a single soul was foolish enough to even make the smallest attempt at writing a single letter more.

The man slowly looked over the remaining genin before starting a short speech dedicated to the amount of danger that they all would be facing in the second portion of the exam and that they were to leave if they felt that they were not capable of handling the challenge. Several shinobi did just that and they and their team were lead out of the room

Naruto sat in his seat. Maybe he should give up now? He knew that he was average at best without the use of his undead creations. He had no real fighting style. No really advantages techniques and abysmal chakra control. There was nothing else unique about him besides his personality and the entity hold up within his soul.

He didn't want to, but maybe it would be for the best if he gave up so that he could train more and be better prepared for next year's exam. But how would Sasuke and Sakura react? He would not only be slowing his progress towards his lifelong goal, but he'd also be greatly effecting their lives and goals. But, at the same time, if he didn't give up now he ran the risk of getting all three of them killed because of his incompetence.

The young Uzumaki clenched his eyes shut before slowly bringing his right arm up. But a hand on his arm stopped the boy from possibly making one of the biggest mistakes of his life. He slowly opened his eyes to see Hinata staring right back at him with a stern expression on her pretty face.

She saw what the boy was trying to do; and as valiant as it might have been, it was still stupid of him. To give up on his dream was something that Hinata could never see Naruto doing; even at his weakest he has always stood fast in his goals. She was not about to let him do it here.

Hinata's stern expression shocked Naruto a bit, but the message in her eyes was evident even to him.

Without a word, the boy lowered his arm and gave the girl a thankful nod. Whatever challenge this exam had for them, they knew they could face it head on.

"Congratulations." The scarred man said with a pleased smirk before going on the explain the actual purpose of the exam. Information gathering.

After learning that he was supposed to cheat to get the answers, Naruto slammed his head hard on his desk. He hit it hard enough that he had to quickly order his troops that there was nothing to worry about and to not suddenly go on a mass killing spree.

"I can't believe I panicked over nothing." Naruto grumbled through tightly clenched jaws.

Before the scarred jonin could continue onward and explain the second portion of the exam; a large black ball suddenly crashed through one of the classroom's large windows. The ball quickly unfurled itself to reveal a woman inside, who threw several kunai at the unfolding edges of the ball, pinning each to either the ceiling or floor and revealing the ball to have been a large black banner with the kanji for "Mitarashi Anko" written in messy white paint.

"Alright listen up you little shits!" A purple-haired women wearing an open brown trench coat, a way-too short brown skirt, leg guards and the thinnest armored fishnet shirt Naruto had ever seen shouted loudly.

"You all may have passed the pussy portion of this exam but the real ball crushing part is coming up next and **I'M** the one in charge!" The woman quickly scanned the room. "You getten' soft there Ibiki? There's quiet a lot more here than last year." Anko whispered to the man now hidden by her large banner.

"Why do you always have to take things too far?" The tall man sighed while purposely ignoring Anko's question.

Naruto had a strange smile on his face as his eyes stayed glued to the woman's unique form of dress.

Anko gave a small shrug before ordering the genin to follow her out of the classroom and out of the ninja academy. Many undead eyes watched the group make it's way to the more restricted sections of the large village; the areas usually reserved for the practice of dangerous or unethical techniques far from both civilian and potential enemy eyes.

The large crowd stopped before a large fence covered in seal, charms, and chains.

"I'd like to welcome you all to what we here in the Village Hidden within the Leaves like to call, 'The Forest of Death'." Anko said dramatically. "Your lives are about to suck a whole lot more from hereon out."

* * *

"My...Lover..." The unknown creature whispered in an airy tone as it hid among the large trees that populated the massive forest Naruto and the other genin were currently facing. Upon seeing the lad's face, a strange series of feelings welled up within the beast.

It was more than aware that it had absorbed quiet a bit from the nearby white-eyed girl, and it knew that it's new emotions were not it's own. But it liked some of them. It had been so long since feeling anything that it instantly attached itself to the first true emotions it could find. Luckily for everyone, these emotions were generally pretty positive.

Seeing Naruto's face made the creature feel a combination of desire and unease, confidence and shyness. It wanted to be near him, bring him happiness and pleasure. It was so bizarre for something like it to even have any concern for anything it normally would have considered a lesser being.

It wanted to approach the object of it's new affection; yet it found itself unable to move as other thoughts began to enter it's unusual mind.

What if he was afraid of it? What if he attacked it or fled from it out of fear? The creature felt a great pain at those thoughts. It did not like these emotions as much as it initially thought.

The creature continued to watch Naruto walk with his team to one of the many gate entrance after vanishing for a moment within a small booth. The creatures two hearts leapt in joy at the thought of potentially making contact with the boy upon his entering of the massive forest.

It quickly followed the trio as they moved through the forest; keeping an eye on the blond-haired one. It would not like to feeling the emotion that might surface if it saw the lad receive any kind of harm. As well as what would happen if the monster within him were to repair any damage.

* * *

"It has been six hours." Naruto whined as he and his team walked through the forest. "You'd think someone would have tried to attack us already." Annoyance dripping from ever word.

While he wouldn't say it out loud, Sasuke was feeling the same way. His team had decided to act as unprofessionally as possible to try and lure out any potential teams that wanted to take their scroll of Earth; hopefully it would be one with a Scroll of Heaven, but one less team to worry about would still be beneficial. The sun was already setting and there had not been even the slightest hint of any other humans for the team's entire travel time.

"I swear." Naruto groaned. "We're going to find the tower before we even get to see another team." Naruto sighed. "At least we'd be able to ambush anybody that approached."

"Moron." Sasuke huffed. "It took you this long to think of something everyone else instantly thought when the tower was first mentioned."

Naruto's face brightened a bit in embarrassment before mumbling, "Sh-shut up." Softly.

"Will you two bone heads cut it out and start setting up camp?" Sakura ordered while already unpacking everything. "It'll be dark in less than an hour and we have no defenses at all set up."

They were just able to set up a small camp just before the sun could set, as well as place a few minor sound and traditional traps. Due to their current situation, it would be unwise to make a fire to cook anything that the group could have potentially hunted. So instead, they quickly ate a few ration bars before heading into their respective tents; placing a trap or two on them for good measure, and heading straight for bed. Completely forgetting that there were no undead nightmares around to actually keep watch for them.

It was only a few hours after the three had gone to sleep did their sound alarms wake them, as well as several quick and loud screams of terror. In a flash, all three of the young ninja leapt up with weapons drawn and backs facing each other.

"Nothing." Naruto whispered as he gazed into the darkness surrounding him.

"No movement." Sasuke's hushed voice sounded out.

"All clear." Sakura whispered.

The three stayed where they were, eyes still focused on even the smallest amount of movement that would hint to an enemy.

The screaming ended just as quickly as it had started.

The Leaf genin were about to relax a bit when a body suddenly landed directly in front of their camp. There were no signs of any serious trauma and the person was still breathing through their creepy gas mask. The three jagged lines on the mask gave away the ninja as belonging to the Land Hidden within the Grass.

Sakura slowly began to carefully approach the fallen ninja for any sign of what could have knocked him out. But before she could get two close; a large beast crashed down, nearly landing on the Grass ninja. In it's hands was the limp body of another grass ninja and the struggling form of a third. Both Sasuke and Saura started to feel a slight headache starting.

She had a name. It was not a name that any, of what her family would call 'lesser' beings, could easily pronounce. The closest thing that they would be able to muster was a strangled La-rn.

She had watched the blond-haired boy fall asleep and felt her hearts flutter at the peaceful expression his face held just before the constant nightmares would start invading his mind. While she daydreamed about the boy's smiling face; La-rn had noticed the other humans approaching her lover's location with nothing less than pure aggressive intent in their covered eyes.

She would not allow her lover to be harmed and so had decided to take care of the problem before it could even become one.

She had easily knocked one of them out with a swipe of one of her many tails; but the other two had taken notice of her and made an attempt to fight. Their efforts had been in vain as La-rn easily overpowered them both. It was only her losing her footing that caused her to fall and reveal herself to her love.

La-rn stopped all movement as Naruto came into her few. Her body completely locked up while her mind screamed at her to run. Seeing his deep blue eyes gaze upon her made the otherworldly creature feel a vulnerability that none of it's kind had ever felt before.

Without even noticing, she let go of the other two ninja with the conscious one quickly running away as quickly as possible; leaving his teammates to their fate.

Sakura looked at the new monster for a moment before sending Naruto a dirty look. "Weren't you ordered _not_ to use any of your monsters during this exam?"

"I didn't make this." Naruto defended himself. "I don't think this thing is even dead."

It took a moment for all three to register the boy's words before quickly getting back into their defensive stances. This was an unknown entity and there was no telling what it could do or even if it was friend or foe.

La-rn was able to snap out of her stupor and took a step back in shock at the sudden harsh look Naruto was giving her. It hurt. His eyes held none of the warm that she had been trapped by; but instead held a hard determination that frightened her while also exciting her in ways she could not ever hope to explain.

She had to find someway of showing that she was not a threat to her lover or his friends. Frantically looking around La-rn remembered the scrolls that her lover had been given before entering the massive forest. He had a large smile upon receiving it; so maybe he would calm down if she gave him another.

The creature slowly reached down to one of the unconscious Grass ninja and ripped the satchel around his waist open. She easily spotted a scroll that looked nearly identical to the one Naruto held. Only, it was a different color and had a different series of brush strokes on the front. If La-rn desired to forever be with her lover, she was going to have to learn her lover's native tongue.

She understood what was said just fine; thanks to the memories she got from the strand of hair. Reading, however, was a whole different story.

The monster looked at the scroll before looking at Naruto. She tilted her head slightly as she picked up the scroll and slowly offered the object to the boy just a few feet away from her.

This was it! Would he accept her offering of kindness? Or attack her in a blind panic?

The three genin gave each other a swift look; communicating through the smallest movements possible a course of action.

Slowly, Naruto slid a foot forward; towards the creature's large outstretched hand. Sakura and Sasuke kept their weapons drawn and were preparing to unleash everything they had should the beast give any sign of aggression.

Naruto took another sliding step towards the creature; his eyes never leaving its' bizarre head.

The look of seriousness and determination made La-rn a little hotter than normal. That steely gaze bearing onto her without any hint of hesitation or doubt.

Upon getting close enough; Naruto slowly stretched out an arm and reached for the scroll La-rn held. His hand froze right before touching the scroll; his eyes fixed hard upon the monster.

La-rn only moved her head slightly.

Naruto wrapped his fingers around the scroll and slowly picked the object up and out of the monster's hand. The boy continued to look at La-rn before looking at the scroll.

"Um." His brain struggled to process what had just happened. His life was fuckin' weird. "Thanks?" Naruto looked back at the strange beast and gave a kind, if not confused, smile.

La-rn felt her entire body warm up at the smile. He smiling, **at** her. She was filled with a wonderful feeling she desired to have forever and never lose.

The monster leaned her body down lower so that her terrifying head was at level with Naruto's body before ever so slowly reaching one of her hands towards the boy.

Naruto stopped all movement.

La-rn stopped as well before continuing to reach towards the boy even slower than before. Her hand turned slightly before it reached Naruto's head. Her long claws and fingers slowly went right on by.

Naruto refused to move; either his life was in danger if he did, or it was if he didn't. If his teammates moved, he was dead. If they did not move, he was still dead.

La-rn gently placed her large palm against Naruto's cheek and slowly began caress it.

Naruto; still feeling a bit scared of the new monster, was also more confused now than he had ever been in his short life.

The beast reached another hand out that pressed itself against the boy's back and began to slowly push him towards the monster's head. She was sure to be as gentle as possible.

She just wanted to feel him against her. Feel his warmth.

Naruto did not resist as he was lifted a few inches off the ground and soon found himself being gently pressed up against the monster's hole filled head. The beast made a soft humming noise that almost sounded joyful to the confused ninja.

La-rn was filled with such joy that was beyond anything words could ever describe. Her lover had not pushed her away. He was hers now.

"My...Lover..." Her multiple voices cooed softly.

Naruto's head snapped down while both Sasuke and Sakura had the most bewildered expressions imaginable on their faces.

"Excuse me; what?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 12**

* * *

"My...Lover..." La-rn moaned with her hundred voices as she held Naruto close to her head.

"Excuse me?! What?" Naruto shouted.

La-rn raised herself back to full height and held Naruto gently while looking down at him. The feelings she had would not leave her; and she was happy that they remained.

Her tentacles lowered to caress the boy's gentle skin in slow loving strokes. Having him here in her arms felt almost completely unreal to the otherworldly entity. She felt like as if her entire life had been dedicated to just finding this boy; even thought she had only known of his existence a little less than two full days.

"My...Love..."

"Well," Sakura mumbled. "Of all the things that could have happened, this was one I could never have expected." She and Sasuke put away their weapons since it did not appear that the beast had any intentions of harming anyone.

The monster continued to gently hold and caress the blond boy while making soft cooing noises; but something was wrong. It was too dark for her to truly see the boy in all of his gentle glory. She looked up to see the large canopy that blocked the holy moon from illuminated her and her lover in it's perfect light.

"What did you call me?" Naruto had to be sure that what he heard had been real and that his mind had not completely shattered.

"Too...Dark..." La-rn ignored the boy's question as she raised one of her hands up towards the canopy. A large ball of purple and black energy appeared in her palm. She looked down at Naruto and gently rubbed her head against his.

"Hold..." The ball launched itself right for the forest canopy before instantly shrinking then expanding into a large black and purple sphere. Instantly an immensely powerful force started to pull at everything nearby and drag it into the sphere.

La-rn easily held onto Naruto; who in his panic to not be sucked up, had grasped onto the monster's alien chest. The monster's strong legs and talons were more than enough to keep her from even coming close to being lifted off the ground.

Sakura was able to use her abnormal strength to hold both her and Sasuke to the ground as the enormous trees around them were pulled from the ground; crushed, and dragged into the floating suction sphere. The same happened to the unfortunate Grass ninja that had not woken from their stupor.

After a few seconds, the sphere expanded once again before shrinking away into nothingness; leaving nothing behind but a few leaves and a lot of upturned Earth as a sign of it's existence.

La-rn looked down at Naruto still clutching at her and could not stop two of her hands from coming up and holding the sides of her brightening head as she felt her hearts swell up with the amazing emotion she could not describe.

But it was still too dark for her liking.

"What the Hell was that?!" Sakura shouted as she got back to her feet, only to see the beast looking back up at the sky; mores specifically, the clouds covering the moon.

"I think we should get back down." Sasuke suggest as one of the black holes on the monster's face started to slowly glow white.

The hole grew brighter and brighter before a thin white beam of energy launched out of the whole directly towards the cloud covered moon. The clouds were easily blasted away and the full moon suddenly grew brighter than anyone could ever remember. Not as bright as the sun mind you, but still a bright sight to behold.

"...Lover..." La-rn addressed Naruto, pulling the boy away from her body and holding him up to be bathes the light of the bright moon.

Naruto finally snapped out of his shock. "Whoa, whoa, whoa now." He said while struggling to get free.

His actions confused and shocked La-rn. He had been so gentle and non-resistant; why the sudden change? He had even held onto her upper torso. Was that not how humans expressed attraction to members of the opposite sex?

La-rn gently put Naruto back onto the ground and stepped back. What had she done wrong? Why was her lover upset with her?

A thought struck her.

Maybe he was upset because she had not properly responded to her lover's advances?

La-rn crouched down until all six of her hands were firmly planted on the ground.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

The beast tilted her head to the side slightly; forgetting that the memories of her and Naruto being around each other were not actually her own for a moment. She leaned back onto her haunches while making a sound similar to that of a crowd of women giggling.

Her many voices suddenly started to all speak at once many different words. It was a complete cacophony of feminine sounds. The only thing that could be reasonably understood was the word/sound La-rn.

"The Hell was that?" Sakura grumbled. Her headache was ever so slightly growing worse and the noise had not made it any better.

"Uh..." Naruto stared up at La-rn. "I think that's her name."

"What?" Sasuke grumbled while trying to ignore his pounding head. "All that noise was a name? What kind of name can't even be said by one person?"

La-rn looked at the young Uchiha and gave a low annoyed grumble. Her mother gave her that name. It was a good name that she was proud to have. Who was this deformed primate to mock her?

"How do you know it's a her?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto turned around and just stare Sakura in the eye with a growing redness slowly taking over his face. It took Sakura a moment to realize the beast's current position and Naruto's height and put two and two together.

Her face turned a shade pink at the realization of what her question had actually lead to and decided to drop the subject entirely.

"...Know...Inside..." La-rn said, causing Naruto to turn around to face her once again.

"What?"

The beast gently poked a claw at Naruto's gut.

"...Cancer...Curse...Plague..."

Naruto placed a hand on his stomach. "You know about it?"

La-rn nodded her head and reached out to hold Naruto once again. She liked the feeling it gave her; being so close to the object of her affection. Naruto backed away out of her reach. The beast gave a sad moan. Why did her love reject her so? It hurt.

"Nu uh." Naruto said while wagging a finger at the monster. "None of that until you explain what you meant when you said 'Lover'." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and ignored the slight groans of pain coming from his two teammates. Their headaches becoming worse.

La-rn tilted her head. Why did her lover ask such a foolish question? She held all of her arms out.

"...Lover...My...Lover..." Her many voices moaned out. Not even the most thick-headed person alive could ignore the obvious sound of desire in the creature's voices.

Naruto shook his head to get rid of the blush that had suddenly appeared on his cheeks. Hearing a million woman moan so seductively at him; even if it was from an otherworldly nightmare,still had an effect on the young boy.

"I get that you called me that. But why?" He tried to explain his question. "I've never seen you before. I did not know you or anything else like the thing inside me even existed."

"Can we please hurry this up?" Sasuke groaned while holding his pounding head.

Such weak minded creatures; these humans. It seems that beings from other realities were just too much for their young minds to truly behold without at least a little discomfort.

La-rn slowly pointed one of her sharp nails at Naruto. "...Lover..."

She then pointed at herself. "...La-rn..."

Naruto pinched the skin in between his eyebrows. There was some sort of miscommunication between him and the beast.

"...La-rn...Lover..." She reached forward to hold Naruto only for the boy to back up even further away from her grasp. La-rn made a sad moaning noise. She wanted to hold her lover once again.

"You aren't touching me until we get this all straightened out." Naruto's gaze hardened.

La-rn made a sighing sound. Why couldn't her lover be from a species that she could easily communicate with? How was she going to properly convey her feelings when the boy could not even produce the correct pheromones for proper communication? She had a long road ahead of her if it was going to be this hard to simply talk to her love.

La-rn leaned back slightly, shook her head a bit, and flared out the tentacles on her head as well as her wiry wings.

"...You...Are...La-rn...Lover...La-rn...Love...You..." It took the girl an immense amount of effort to say all of that. It simply was much more difficult for her to completely rely on auditory communication. She made an inhaling sound before continuing.

"...La-rn...Have...Memories...Emotion...From...Another...Became...La-rn...From...Emotion..." She started making a slight panting sound due to the small bit of exhaustion she felt from the effort of speaking so unusually.

Naruto continued to give the large creature a confused look.

The two stared at each other in silence.

"What?" Naruto asked, completely confused.

"For fuck's sake!" Sakura shouted; her head was pounding. "She was made by someone's memory and for some reason she loves you!" She shouted while holding her head. "Can we go now? My head fucking hurts."

"Just accept it and let's go." Sasuke groaned.

Naruto looked at his two in-pain friends before looking back at La-rn. "Well," He shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. Looks like I have a monster girlfriend now."

La-rn made a joyous cry that caused all of Sasuke and Sakura's pain to suddenly vanish instantly. Both fell forward and almost moaned at the sudden feeling of complete and total relief.

The creature instantly reached out; grabbed Naruto, and pulled him into a massive six-armed hug. Naruto, being the kind kid he is, returned the sign of affection.

"Also," Naruto said while pushing a bit away from La-rn. He held up the scroll that La-rn had given him once he let go of her. "Thank you again for this scroll. I can't imagine how we were gonna' get one of these without me being useful." A tiny hint of sadness could be heard in the boy's words.

"We need to get moving." Sasuke spoke out; ignoring the tone of his teammate. "All that noise must have attracted the attention of every other genin in this forest."

"Right." Both Sakura and Naruto said in unison.

"Towards the tower it is." Naruto nearly shouted while pointing in the direction of said tower's far off silhouette.

La-rn gave another excited cry before bounding forward towards the groups' goal; picking up both Sakura and Sasuke along the way.

"This is so weird." Sakura bemoaned as she and the rest of her team were carried to the center of the forest.

La-rn was surprisingly quiet; despite her size, as she bound through the training center. When asked why she doesn't just fly them all to the tower using her strange wings; the creature just tilted it's strange head in confusion.

The group were quick to reach the tower; taking them only a little bit more than a day to reach the general area. But before they could actually make their way to the tower's entrance, a massive wall of stone suddenly erupted from the ground.

La-rn did not slow down and easily smashed through the thick rock before skidding to a halt and dropping all three of her human passengers and turning completely around.

"Looks like someone doesn't want anybody to enter." Sakura said just as several more stone walls erupted from the Earth and formed what would have been a large stone room with the broken slab.

Not a moment after all of the walls connected did a large number of spikes form from the stone walls and quickly move in to crush what ended up to be absolutely nothing.

"Jeez!" Naruto exclaimed as he watched the walls close completely in; leaving no room for even the smallest living thing to survive without either being impaled or crushed. "They _really_ don't want people getting in."

"Or they are just plain sadistic." Sasuke glowered at the nasty trap.

"This was obviously a premade technique. Possibly with some sort of alarm or signal upon it's activation" She slowly pulled out a weapon; signalling for her teammates to do the same. "Which means that we will soon have company."

"Ugh." Naruto groaned. "I'm too tired for this."

"Maybe you should hide your lady-friend." Sakura suggested. "The last thing we need is for the Hokage to get wind that you have an outside source helping during this exam. We could all get in trouble."

Naruto looked at La-rn before giving Sakura a deadpanned expression. "And how do you propose I had her? I can't just make her leave. She isn't one of pets."

La-rn just watched the exchange with slight humor. Human's were funny creatures.

"I'd suggest you try asking politely." Sasuke stated bluntly. He wanted all of this to end so he could finally get some sleep.

Naruto sighed before looking up at La-rn. "Could you please leave for a bit? You can hide around my apartment if you want."

L-arn stood straight up before crossing her top pair of arms, then the second pair, and finally the third pair in front of her thin body and shaking her head back and forth.

Naruto slouched forward and looked at La-rn with a pitiful expression. "Come on. Please?" He begged. "I promise to do anything you want after all of this. Pretty please? I really really don't want to get kicked out of this exam."

The female creature looked down at Naruto before tilting her head slightly.

"...Anything..."

"Yeah," Naruto pleaded while nodding his head quickly. "I'll do anything you want."

La-rn leaned forward until all six of her hands were firmly planted on the ground and her head was level with Naruto."

"...Anything..."

"Yes! Yes!" Naruto nearly shouted. "I promise I'll do anything; no matter what it is!"

Naruto continued to give La-rn his pleading expression when he noticed a tiny pink light suddenly form within the darkness of one of her many holes. The light grew larger before suddenly taking the shape of a bright pink heart.

La-rn began to hope from one foot to the other while the sounds of a thousand giggling women filled the surrounding forest. She stopped after a short while, looked down at Naruto, and gave the boy a nod.

"...Anything..." Before her body appeared to flicker before suddenly bolting away at an impossible speed. Nothing but a dark blur.

Naruto gave a heavy sigh of relief just as a trio of genin from the Village hidden within the Stone decided to appear. Naruto's team was already prepared for a scuffle.

"looks like this lot is a lot less stupid than those others." One of the enemy ninja chuckled. "How many will this make?"

"This should be our seventh scroll." Another answered while gracing the Leaf shinobi with a wicked grin.

"I wonder if something else will come along and save us." Sasuke bemused as he tried to position himself between Naruto and the group before them. Sakura did the same. The potential threat that would occur should their teammate take any form of damage was worth making the boy look helpless.

That did not mean; however, that Naruto liked it. Despite his inward complaints, Naruto accepted his lot in life and took a more defensive position behind both of his teammates.

"Well looky looky." A Stone ninja chuckled. "Looks like we now know who has that scroll. Don't worry. We only take the scroll after we've killed all of you."

And with that, the Stone shinobi leapt at the Leave ninja. Both Sakura and Sasuke sprang forward on the offensive while Naruto trailed back and summoned several clones to aid his allies. It was the best he could do without risk of harm to himself.

Sasuke, Sakura, and the few clones were just barely able to hold their own. Their collective lack of sleep was seriously hampering the group's ability to fight. It clearly showed during the confrontation.

"This is just too easy." One of the Stone ninja chuckled as he effortlessly dodged an attack by Sasuke and quickly followed up with one of his own.

"Why don't you go and get the other kid while we play around some more with these two." Another said while stabbing one of Naruto's clones out of existence.

"This might be even more fun." The first chuckled.

Naruto was able to defend himself pretty well from the attacking ninja; but like his teammates, his tired body prevented him from doing much more. But as long as he did not get hurt, everything was ok.

The Stone shinobi was able to deflect Naruto's kunai and was about to jam his own weapon into the boy's exposed back when something came whizzing by and forced the attacking ninja to back away.

The objected embedded itself into a nearby tree and could be seen to be a medical scalpel.

Both the Stone ninja and Naruto looked in the direction of where the thrown instrument had come from to see Kabuto as well as two other sound ninja standing on a nearby tree.

"Looks like we arrived just in time." Kabuto said while adjusting his glasses. Everyone; including the Stone shinobi, stumbled slightly at the cliched line. Kabuto cleared his throat before speaking again. "We heard a bit of a ruckus and thought to check it out only to find a few low life scum picking on our little friends? That just doesn't seem very nice to me."

He and his compatriots leapt off the tree and in between the Leaf and Stone shinobi.

"Why don't you all go on inside without us? We'll catch up to you real soon."

Sakura and Naruto looked nearly overjoyed at being freed from the very one-sided fight while Sasuke seemed more pissed off that the fight was interrupted. He really did not like being saved; especially by someone from another village.

"Stop your sulking and let's move." Sakura ordered, she and Naruto were already moving towards the tower entrance.

"Oh no you don't!" One of the Stone ninja shouted while going through a few hand seals. Suddenly, about a dozen clones made from the surrounding Earth leapt out of the ground and blocked the retreated Leaf shinobi.

"Oh come on!" Naruto groaned while trying to fight back a yawn. The boy just wanted to get some sleep.

Once again, the Leave shinobi were forced to fight for their lives as the Earth-made clones attacked with murderous intent. The Sound ninja preoccupied themselves with the originals.

"This is taking too long." One of the Stone ninja grumbled. "We're gonna' attract too much attention if this keeps going." The enemy thought about the potential of cutting their losses and just making a quick escape. There were still other Genin teams with their own respective scrolls to steal. What was the harm in letting a weak team or two pass on by? Might make the next part of the exams easier.

The other two Stone shinobi glanced at each other before giving silent nods. All three held up the same hand sign and the ground around them began to rumble and burst open. Their clones began to glow before violently exploding; causing the Earth to do the same.

Once the ground had begun to vibrate, the Sound and Leaf ninja all leapt up and out of the way of the inevitable explosion that quickly followed. The blast, rubble, and smoke all covered the Stone ninja as they quickly fled the area; making sure that they removed any trace of themselves that could be used to track them.

Once the dust had settled, the allied ninja quickly grouped up.

"You all alright?" Kabuto asked the Leaf ninja after checking on his own team.

Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"I'm fine." Naruto stated while double checking every inch of skin for even the slightest sign of harm. It was difficult enough to have the massive one underground tell the others not to send them all every time Naruto's weapon clashed with his own teammates during training. He knew it would be impossible from his entire army from ripping apart any poor fool that left even the smallest scratch upon his young flesh.

Seeing that their teammate was alright, Sasuke and Sakura gave their own confirmations on their physical safety.

"That's good." Kabuto mumbled. "To be honest we were kind of waiting to sneak our way into the tower next time an unexpected team would fall into their trap. But since it was you little runts; none of us would feel right leaving you to die so quickly." The glasses-wearing ninja paused for a moment "Anyway. I assume you all already have both of your scrolls?"

"Why else would we be trying to get inside the tower?" Naruto asked in a dead tone. He and the rest of team just gave unamused expressions towards the Sound shinobi. The confidence their team had for the Leaf was astounding.

"Uh, right." Kabuto chuckled slightly at his lack of common sense. "Since it seems like those troublemakers are gone for now. We should head inside before someone else decides that we all look like easy marks."

The Leaf shinobi said nothing. Kabuto's words sounded forced; almost script-like. But for the life of them, none of the Konoha ninja could figure out why. The Sound and Leaf were known to be allies by everyone so there was no need to pretend to be such.

Unless Kabuto was purposefully acting poorly to trick any potential onlookers that he might back-stab the Leaf shinobi! Or not. Who really knew?

Both teams entered the tower and followed a set of signs leading them to specific rooms dedicated to each team participating in this year's current exam. The two teams said their farewells before parting and entering their own designated rooms.

Inside the room was a note telling the team to open both of their scrolls and cross them over each other; forming a summoning seal. Naruto and Sakura both opened and crossed their two scrolls and, almost instantly, a puff of smoke appeared from the crossed over section and quickly vanished to reveal none other than Iruka Umino.

Iruka explained to the group the purpose of the second stage of the exam. Since the team had arrived three days earlier than was expected, they were allowed to rest and train while waiting for the other teams to finally reach the tower. Since this was still technically a mission, the team was expected to sleep within the same room together. Thankfully there were three individual beds stored away just for such a purpose.

Sasuke and Sakura were quick to make use of their extra time by training as much as possible while also doing all they could to rest and prepare themselves for whatever the next stage of the exam may bring.

The three days gave time for Naruto to really think about his abilities as a ninja. When he has access to his undead army, he is more than capable of fighting along side them without any worry of harm or failure. He had trained so much and fought along side them all that it was almost alien to him to fight alone.

Was he weak because he simply was unable to hold his own in a one-on-one fight? Was it wrong to depend so heavily on the dead to assist him in his battles?

Thinking hard, Naruto remembered the Inuzuka and Aburame clans of the Leaf Village. Both employed other creatures to assist them in their struggles and were seen as pillars of strength of the village. Their ability to communicate, form bonds, and fight alongside their animal companions was seen as one of the many strengths that had turned the Village Hidden within the Leaves into the super-power it currently was amongst the elemental nations.

Most notably were the Aburame; who were almost completely helpless in a fight without their insects. Naruto was not much different.

Maybe he should go against his Hokage's orders. He was told to not use his undead creations for fear of the other nations learning about his home's new deadly weapons. But if Naruto was now like the Aburame and Inuzuka, then it was impossible for Naruto to both comply with the Hokage's orders as well as fulfill his mission; passing the Chunin Exams.

As a ninja, sometimes it was necessary to go against direct orders for either the success of the mission or the betterment of the village. It would seem that now was to be the first time that Naruto would disobey his village leader; not as an immature brat, but as a full grown man. Naruto knew he was going to be punished for disobeying the Hokage, but it had to be done for him to advance with his life goals.

Naruto nodded to himself while sitting on one of the beds provided for the exam takers. Coming to terms with the fact that he was going to be directly disobeying his village leader's orders; he now had the trouble of coming up with a battle plan for the next part of the exams.

The only thing he was one hundred percent positive on, was that the final portion of the exam was always a one-on-one straight up fight between the remaining participants.

How was he going to be sure that he would win?

Naruto crossed his legs while sitting on the bed before crossing his arms and closing his eyes tightly. He was really going to have to think hard and come up with an actual strategy instead of his usually brash method of punching until his opponent stops moving.

He sat on the bed for hours trying to think of battle plan and strategies he could use with any of his undead minions. The problem was, he had no idea how to actually go about starting a successful attack method.

His creations attacked aggressively without any regard for strategy or their own safety. The attacked relentlessly with such aggression and brutality that sometimes they would rend their victims to the point where they would no longer be viable as a new addition to the family.

Any that witnessed such viciousness usually were too scared to properly react; frozen in complete and utter fear.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

His monsters' victims were scared after seeing how nightmarish they could be. But not until they displayed their brutality. Sure, they were put off and on guard seeing his creations move about, but it was only when the first drop of blood is drawn does fear truly start to sink in.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked down at his jacket. This jacket was the oldest possession he owned and it showed. The years of wear, sun damage, and poor use of bleach had turned the once bright orange into an almost sickly yellow.

The boy stared forward for a moment before nodding to himself.

He knew how he was going to fight for now on.

He needed to speak with Ino.

* * *

Hinata was happy.

That's it. Just happy. Plain and simple.

Joy flowed through every single one of her cells. And she had no idea why.

Also, while Naruto is never far form her mind. Recently, more and more of her thoughts had been drawing towards the young boy. Almost everything she saw and every action she did reminded her of the Uzumaki in some shape or form.

The young Hyuuga initially did not complain about the sudden rise in her affection for the blond-headed boy. But, when in the middle of a fight, her thoughts nearly made her loss her team's qualification scrolls; she decided that it was started to become an issue.

At first it was a slight feeling of joy and excitement; not unlike how she would feel when looking at the boy from a hidden distance. It then changed to a feeling of pure terror unlike any she had ever felt in her life before suddenly becoming such a strong feeling of love and admiration she had to physically separate herself from the rest of her team least they see her make a face she could never even hope to imagine.

After a while she was able to look her teammates in the face without fear of making the stupidest expression humanly possible. That intense feeling of love took what felt like ages to finally die down enough to a simple pleasing joy.

Hinata just wished she knew why her emotions changed so rapidly without there being any obvious outside influences.

The girl would have to worry about it later; since the beginning of the next portion of the Chunin Exams was about to begin.


	13. Chapter 13

**Living Decay 13**

 **Chapter 13**

* * *

Hiruzen stood tall and slowly looked over the faces of the many young shinobi that had passed the second portion of the dangerous Chunin Exams. Beside him stood the proctors of both the first and second portion as well as the soon-to-be referee for the preliminaries. Every passing shinobi had gathered int he very center of the training ground tower; an obviously large fighting arena.

The old man took the pipe hanging from his mouth and held it firmly before taking a single step forward. "I am pleased to see that so many aspiring Genin have passed the most dangerous part of these exams." He started. "Unfortunately, while each and everyone of you desires the promotion for your own reasons and goals; only so many of you will pass to the end. Before we can continue onward to the final part of this year's Chunin Exam; we will have to hold a preliminary since so many of you were able to pass the second portion. Too many to be honest."

The old man gave a sigh before rolling his aged shoulders. After this he promised himself a spa day. He was too old to be treading through some overgrown woods just to stand for who knows how long in a pair of terrible shoes that offered absolutely **no** arch support.

"So, we will now begin a series of preliminary one-on-one fights between randomly selected ninja. The victors will be allowed to continue to the final part of the exams while those that do not win their bought will be allowed to remain in the village to watch the finals. Best of luck to each and every one of you."

A panel on the wall behind the Hokage opened up to reveal a large monitor that quickly flickered on and began to randomly cycle through the names of every single participate of the exams. Everyone's attention was focused on the screen as the names 'Sasuke Uchiha' and 'Yoroi' appeared with a small 'vs' in between them.

Everyone but the two soon-to-be combatants made their ways to the observation decks located above the large arena.

Before walking up the small flight of stair; Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. His expression had become exactly the same as Sasuke's; into the famous Uchiha brood. He looked his taller teammate in the eye.

"Try not to embarrass me out there." Naruto said in the exact same stoic and superior tone that Sasuke always spoke in. The Uchiha looked at his teammate for a moment before he realized that the blond boy was mocking him. The massive smile really should have tipped him off.

"Your the embarrassment." Sasuke scoffed as he shrugged off Naruto's hand and walked over to his side of the arena.

Naruto made his way over to Sakura and noticed Kakashi giving him a lazy smile. For once, the man was not nose-deep into one of his erotic novels and was actually paying attention to one of his students fight.

Naruto really wanted to watch the fight. He wanted to see first hand from an onlooker's perspective of how his teammate had grown in strength and skill since first becoming a team. He really truly did.

But something kept him from being able to focus. He shuffled around a little bit and adjusted his jacket some.

'So many strong bodies.' The boy could hear his god's bemused voice. 'Why does my prophet not end their mortal suffering already? Have I not been a kind and benevolent god to my prophet? Does he not understand that defying our will only causes more pain for those around him?'

Naruto did his best to ignore the entity's words; but he could not shake the feeling that maybe what it said was right. Maybe he should just kill everyone now instead of letting them suffer through all the troubles and hardships of life. Their souls would be free while their undead nightmarish bodies would continue to wander the Earth and end the suffering of others as well.

Naruto shook his head violently. He really did not need to start thinking things like that now of all times. He knew he had to beat his future opponent; not kill them.

Again, Naruto adjusted his jacket while looking mildly uncomfortable. No one seemed to notice as they were far too focused on Sasuke trying to fight a man that appeared to be so flexible he was boneless.

He had to focus. The young ninja could not afford to allow himself to be distracted by the voices in his head when a potentially life altering fight was about to happen.

Naruto was able to finally drown out the constant screaming just as Sasuke won his bought. Both he and Sakura congratulated the lone Uchiha before another fight started.

The day went on with fight after fight. The victors would be congratulated by their teammates while the defeated would be consoled.

Two of the three Stone ninja that had antagonized Naruto and his team before the Exams had even started all had shown a level of unmerciful brutality in their fighting styles. Ranging from pure brute strength to pure malicious threats to their opponents homes and families.

It wasn't until the final member of the Stone trio did it really hit home what kind of people they really were.

The monitor revealed the boy's name to be simply Ten. The Earth itself appeared to ruble and shake when the he leapt from the observation platform to the arena below. He stood with such confidence that the very air around him appeared to reek of superiority.

His opponent was completely unprepared for what Ten had in store for him.

"Observe." He formed a single hand sign and several massive stone spikes erupted from underneath his opponent forcing the other ninja to constantly jump out of the way.

"The very Earth responds to my commands." A large wall of stone suddenly erupted in front of his fleeing opponent. The pillars suddenly shifted into deadly spikes before launching out of the ground and shooting straight for the Stone ninja's opponent.

"There is nowhere you can go. Anywhere that you could hide I will see." He chuckled. "The blood of the family that founded the great Stone Village runs through my veins. There is nothing you can do."

Ten continued to taunt his opponent while only occasionally making a few different hand seals to alter the ground into deadly traps and weapons. The little to no effort he put into teasing his opponent was almost just as sickening as the look of complete and under sadistic joy splayed on his face.

It was obvious to all that Ten was simply playing with his opponent. He could easily defeat the man but he chose to play around, torment and abuse without even taking a step away from his original position.

Any attempt at a counter attack from his enemy was either thwarted by some form of Earth technique or were interrupted completely before they could even be prepared.

If the other ninja made any attempt to get close to Ten, large stone hands would grow out of the very floor and make efforts to crush the enemy before reaching Ten himself.

Eventually, the Stone ninja got bored of teasing his opponent and went about forming a series of hand seals that ended with him slamming both of his palms on the ground.

The instant that Ten's opponent's feet touched the ground, the very stone floor quickly enveloped his feet up to the ankle; halting any other attempts he might have had for escaping.

Ten applied more pressure to his hands and two thick stone walls burst out from the floor; one on either side of the caught ninja. With a sadistic smile, Ten stood up straight before slowly bringing both of his hands closer to each other; the two walls following in his motions.

His opponent had to stop struggling to pull his feet free and focus on the two walls before they could crush him. The poor guy held both of his arms out in a pitiful attempt to stop the slowly moving slabs; only to have them easily resist and overpower him.

His arms started to shake as he tried to push the walls back; until finally caving in and slipping out of place. This forced him to rely more on his forearms and elbows to keep the death trap away.

Eventually, that too become not enough and there was a sickening crack as one of the ninja's arms suddenly snapped from the pressure. Th ninja shot a pleading look at his captor before reaching a hand out for help.

"Enough!" The proctor shouted just before Ten could slam his hands shut and reduce his opponent into a bloody paste.

Ten looked both shocked and disappointed.

"What?! No fair!" He complained loudly while bringing his hands down, forcing every stone-based protrusion he had made during the fight sink back into the ground. "I was having fun!"

"The match is over." The proctor stated firmly as a pair of medics arrived and quickly carted the wounded ninja away. "You clearly won. There is no further need for you to demonstrate your capabilities."

Ten glared at the proctor before finally returning to the balcony next to his other teammates.

The redheaded Sand shinobi's dead eyes slowly followed Ten as he walked past. His expression completely unreadable.

The fact that two of the three Stone shinobi were able to defeat their opponents and go on to the next stage of the exams was not a comforting feeling for anyone else that might have to face them in the future.

Finally, Naruto's name flashed up on the large monitor along with the name of some random ninja hailing from the Village Hidden within the Mist.

Naruto tried his best to hide the smile trying to rip apart his face. It was finally time to show everyone what the dead-last could really do. Sakura wished him luck and he replied with a smug grin and a thumbs up.

"Try not to embarrass all of us." Ino suggested in a snide tone as he walked past her team. Naruto acted as if he had not heard her.

"U-um." Hinata had to almost push herself away from the railing to turn and look Naruto in the eye. The desire to just push her rear end into him had been almost too strong. The thought of him grabbing her hips; tearing a hole in her tight pants and forcing his hard throbbing cock as far and deep into either of her needy holes was almost too much to bear for the young Hyuuga.

But she was able to fight the urge. She took a slow breath before looking straight into Naruto's eyes; her face becoming redder and redder every passing second.

"Good luck, Naruto." Hinata said while trying her best to keep looking into Naruto's deep, kind, soft eyes that she knew hid a lust-filled beast begging to be released to unleash it's carnal desires on the first female form it could get a hold of. She could get lost in those eyes for hours.

Naruto smiled and gave the girl a thumbs-up before continuing down to the arena below.

Naruto stood on his side of the large arena while his opponent stood across from him. Said opponent was admittedly dressed more like an actual ninja than pretty much any of Naruto's friends or himself.

Naruto took a long calming breath before getting down into his own fighting pose.

"Begin." The proctor lowered his raised arm and jumped back. But neither combatant moved. They both just glared at each other intensely for what felt like minutes; neither moving an inch.

The sleeve of Naruto's jacket moved the smallest possible amount and a hail of kunai was sent his way from the Mist ninja.

Naruto dodged to the side and ran in a large arc towards his enemy; something small came out of each of the boy's sleeved and into hands. The mist shinobi tossed a combination of shurikan and kunai in front of Naruto's path; forcing the younger boy to quickly change position. He quickly formed his favorite handseal before two identical clones of himself poofed into existence and ran in opposite directions.

Noticing the real copy of his opponent attempting to circle around while his clones tried to come head-on; the Mist shinobi formed his own hand signs before letting loose two streams of highly pressurized water out from within the sleeves of his outfit. Destroying both clones easily while also soaking the arena floor.

Turning his attention to his opponent, the young ninja of the Mist was able to bring up two kunai just as Naruto tossed whatever was in his hands right for guy's face.

Something small instantly latched onto the Mist shinobi's arm. At first glance is looked like nothing more than a blob of flesh; almost slug-like in appearance. But upon closer inspection he noticed that the flesh wriggled about and had a tapered end that had a small three pronged claw with each 'finger' ending in a suction-cup-like pad. The small body quickly expanded from the tail with the other end coming to a stop at another three pronged claw. Except with sharp hook-like claws at the end of each 'finger' instead of the suction-cup-like pads. Right in the dead center of the claw was a tiny little hole.

The little life form thrashed about wildly while gripping the ninja's arm as tightly as possibly. It's wild movements making it hard for the man to actually use said arm to defend himself from Naruto rushing forward and slamming a fist into the side of his head.

The Mist ninja rolled with the punch; spinning around and quickly regaining his balance before using his free hand to quickly stab a kunai through the small creature's plump body.

In response, said creature let out a high pitched screech while a tiny needle-like spine quickly shot out from within it's tiny hole and punctured the ninja's wrist.

Said shinobi let out a pained shout as the spike was quickly pulled out of his bleeding flesh just to be stabbed right back in.

Keeping his grip on his weapon; the Mist ninja did his best to ignore the pain in his bleeding wrist and used the kunai embedded within the little monster as a lever to rip the creature away from him. The flesh blob refused to let go and ended up being torn apart upon finally being separated from the human. The pieces of burst flesh fell to the ground lifeless.

The Mist shinobi held his hurt arm while looking at the pieces of rotten flesh then back at Naruto; who had gotten some distance between him and his previously flailing about opponent. A combined look of shock and disgust adored the uncovered portions of his face. Every single person within the ninja nations was aware of both the dog using Inuzuka and the insect commanding Aburame. They alone were some of the most difficult ninja to combat; but to learn that the Hidden Leaf Village had a third animal user was some very unwanted news.

Naruto watched his opponent carefully as he ever so slowly withdrew his hands into the sleeves of his jacket.

The Mist shinobi slowly brought his hands up before quickly going through a series of hand seals.

A veritable swarm of those small flesh creatures suddenly poured out from both of Naruto's sleeves and began to quickly slither across the soaked floor towards their target. Naruto threw several shuriken in an effort to halt the incoming technique; but his opponent easily dodged the attack; leapt back away from the swarm and slammed both of his hands down onto the soaking wet floor.

In a flash, the entire arena floor was frozen over. Every last one of Naruto's little pets were encased in ice and the Leaf ninja' feet were frozen to the ground as more ice quickly climbed up to his ankles and cemented the boy to the floor.

"Nice try." The Mist ninja said before standing and making his way over to Naruto. "But this fight is over." His voice was slightly shaking as he stepped over the frozen monsters. The way they had just poured out of his opponents clothes and clamored towards him had been very unsettling.

Naruto struggled to break himself free from the trap by repeatedly stabbing at the ice surrounding his ankles; but to no avail. He quickly formed his favorite handsign just as the Mist ninja got a little too close. Two clones popped into existence and engaged the enemy as Naruto continued to try and break free.

He had to stop once or twice to adjust his jacket again.

Seeing the guy struggle with his clones made Naruto smirk slightly. "Maybe it is _you_ that should be giving up?" He rebutted his opponents earlier advise. "I was worried I was going to have to show some of the stuff I was hoping to save for the finals. But if your having that much trouble against a simple pair of clones then there isn't really anything to worry about."

"Disqualified." The Hokage's regal and commanding voice echoed through the large room.

The exam proctor turned his head to look at the village leader, who only gave the man a steeled expression. His decision had been made.

Time came to a stand still as the single word echoed further within Naruto's mind. The boy slowly looked over to the Hokage who had spoken the single word. His face was one of anger and disappointment. And Naruto knew why.

He thought that by showing that he could control his creatures while still hiding what they truly are; that the old man would look past his earlier orders. Apparently the young ninja was wrong. Very wrong.

The Mist ninja looked at the village leader, then the exam proctor who nodded. The younger ninja released his technique; allowing Naruto's tiny creatures to move freely once again and return to their master.

 _'Oh, no.'_ Hinata laminated. The girl felt almost as heart broken as the boy she cherished. Seeing his sullen expression as he ever so slowly made his way back to the observation deck.

Every step the boy took felt heavy; as if his feet were made of pure lead. In the back of the young boy's mind, he knew that it was not truly as bad as it seemed. He could still get promoted to Chunin by some other means. Heck, he graduated from the academy just a few hours after officially failing it. Who could say the same couldn't happen again?

Even if he was not able to perform any outrageous or extravagant feet that would impress the brass enough to allow his promotion; Naruto still had next year's Chunin Exam as an opportunity for promotion.

Naruto slowly made his way up the steps and shambled to where the rest of his team were waiting on him with pitied looks etched onto their faces.

Hinata tried to reach a hand out when Naruto passed by but found herself clutching at her chest, right in front of her aching heart instead. Yes, the Hyuuga was a massive pervert that dreamed of having Naruto's cock slapping her face. But her earnest feelings for the boy could not be more true than the very laws that govern life.

Seeing him so distraught and defeated was something she had only seen a few times before when they were students in the academy. Naruto had always found a way past it though; and Hinata knew that the boy would be able to get past this hurdle just as well. She just wished that she would be able to help him in doing so.

She watched as Naruto reached his teammates and how two of the three tried to cheer up the distraught boy. It took a moment for Naruto to put on his usual cheerful face. It was painfully obvious that the boy was hurting even through the large smile and words of confidence he boasted.

"Hinata." Shino spoke up to snap his female teammate out of her thoughts. Hinata looked at her friend before noticing the large monitor displaying her name as well as her cousin's; Neji Hyuuga. He was to be her opponent. The girl's heart dropped at the same time as all the color drained from her face.

"You can back down if your not ready." Hinata's sensei, Kurenai, suggested softly to her female student. The red-eyed woman knew that the young Hyuuga was far from ready to face a renowned combat genius like her cousin. No; **especially** her cousin.

It was no secret that the boy harbored a deep-seeded hatred for the Main household of the Hyuuga family. He hated the branching system the family practiced. He hated the main house for the poor treatment of it's extended family as well as hating the branching families for not standing up to the tyrannical main branch.

But most of all; Neji **hated** the supposed heir to the Hyuuga clan, Hinata Hyuuga. She was soft, weak, too kind a person to truly be worthy of upholding the values of the clan as well as being able to push the clan further into a greater powerhouse. Her unusual attraction to the master of those unholy monsters that continued to plague the village did not help her case in his steeled eyes.

She was the most unfit person for the responsibilities and honor of becoming clan head. And he hated every fiber of her being.

Neji was already waiting on his side of the arena when Hinata finally arrived. His cold eyes bore deep into her vulnerable form.

Hinata felt naked; exposed and easily exploited under her cousin's intense glare. The fact that his nasty stare was only made so much more intimidating by the Hyuuga clan's famous pale eyes only made the girl feel so much smaller.

"How pathetic." Neji spoke curtly. "To think that _you_ of all people are to become the next heir to the clan is an embarrassment to this entire village." He got down into the fighting stance all Hyuuga initiated fights in.

"I will be the one to show just how pathetic the power of the main branch really is."

Hinata suddenly found herself unable to move. The sheer amount of hatred seething out of her older cousin was suffocating and made the girl feel as if the entire world was trying to crush her.

She was not ready. She was not ready. She was not ready!

"Look at how scared you are to even face a branch member in a simple duel." Neji chastised. "I can't believe you were even allowed in the ninja academy; let alone actually graduate to Genin."

She must look so pathetic. Just standing there and letting her cousin belittle her in front of her past classmates, fellow ninja and even those representing other nations. The Hyuuga clan was being shamed even further by her just standing there and taking every insult that Neji threw at her.

Hopelessness welled up inside her as every single scathing word felt like icy needles stabbing her through her vulnerable heart. The worst part? She knew every word he spoke was the truth. There was not a single lie that the boy said as he ridiculed and brought the girl down to the dirt where she belonged.

"Will you shut up!" A loud shout echoed through through the large room. "Just who the Hell do you think you are?! Talking to your own family like that?!"

Neji shot a glare up and saw it to be that blond-haired freak who had decided to speak up against him. What right did this failure of a monster have to speak to him in such a rude and disrespectful fashion? He would be sure to teach this nobody a lesson on respecting his betters after trouncing his pathetic cousin.

Naruto looked down at Hinata. "Don't let him talk to you like that, Hinata! Show him just how strong you really are!"

Hearing Naruto's words echo through her mind made Hinata's knees feel weak, but made her shaking and pounding heart calm and steady.

He was right. She was a Hyuuga. One of the most powerful families in the entire world; and she was a member of it's main branch. She had spent so many days training over and over to master her families fighting style. She had spent so many hours under the cruel tongue of Hyuuga Elders and the branch families; enduring ever hurtful word they spat.

She was sick and tired of it. She was sick of being weak. Sick of being so submissive. Hinata was finally going to take what she wanted without concern for anyone else but herself.

She wanted to win!

Hinata took a long breath before slowly getting down into the traditional Hyugga fighting stance. When her eyes opened; the enlarged veins around them bulged as a steely determination burned behind her pale orbs.

"Come my cousin." Her hard gaze focused completely on the boy standing across from her. "Let us see which branch is truly the strongest."

Hinata; as well as nearly every Leaf shinobi in the room, was shocked by what she had said. Naruto's simple words must have really given her that boost she ever so desperately needed.

Neji sent his glaring vision from the loud blond to his weak cousin. The stern look she bolstered was new and very unwanted. The last thing Neji wanted to have that accursed seal etched into his forehead to be used against him in such a public match. Suffering any kind of defeat by her hand would be bad, but to be seen in such a weak and pitiful state; Neji refused to be seen in such a manner.

"Fine." He responded harshly while getting down into the same fighting style.

"Begin!"

Almost instantly the two went at it. Palm strikes laced with harsh chakra and finger jabs targeting key locations were used by both combatants in a brilliant display of power and elegance.

The shear amount of power and force that both Hyuuga's put into every single one of their strikes could be seen as burst of pure chakra exploded from each of their hands. Each burst echoed out a terrible scream of strength.

Needless to say, the fight was one to behold. Leaving even the most hardened onlooker to gawk at the display.

"Who knew Hinata could do _that?_ " Sakura whispered in awe at the other girl's abilities.

Naruto did not respond and kept his eyes glued to the fight. It was impossible for him to look away at the amazing display before him.

With neither of the two ninja appearing to land even a single hit on their opponent, the fight appeared as if it would never end. Neither appeared to tire in any way nor appeared to show any sign of stopping the fight.

After what felt like hours, both members of the Hyuuga clan suddenly leapt back away from each other; panting heavily upon landing a few feet away from each other.

Neji was panting heavily and appeared to be shaking slightly from the unexpected power that Hinata had behind every single one of her strikes. This was very unexpected.

How could the weakest Hyuuga in history put up such a fight against a prodigy genius like himself? This was humiliation in it's most purest of forms.

Hinata was not fairing much better. She too was coated in sweat and panting heavily. She wanted to take her heavy coat off, but she knew that it's thick padding was the only thing keeping her cousin from hitting anything vital.

The young girl was just as surprised as her cousin at just how much she had been able to take and dish out during the fight. Never in her life had she ever fought so hard.

She could see the anger and frustration on her cousin's face. The unexpected difficulty of the fight had taken it's toll on him just as much as her. Neji had expected and easy fight where he would be able to finish Hinata with a quick flurry of hit and completely humiliate her. Now it appears that the opposite might be true.

"Having trouble cousin?" Hinata asked while panting heavily.

Neji shot a nasty glare before charging forward; palm held back ready to strike. Hinata met his attack head on with one of her own and the pair were once again in another heated bought.

The fight looked like as if it would go on forever. That is until Hinata misjudged the positioning on one of Neji's attacks and the palm of his hand slammed straight onto her chest. Hinata's own palm had found a way around Neji's attack and had found a way to slam into his elbow.

A loud crack echoed throughout the arena as both ninja stopped all motion.

Neji's face was one of both pain and indistinguishable anger.

Hinata's face held nothing put confidence and a slight hit of smugness. Before her eyes suddenly became wide and a small trail of blood dripped from her lips; quickly followed by a loud cough.

Neji's face became smug as he applied more pressure to the hand pressed against Hinata's chest and unleashed a powerful burst of chakra. The burst could be seen exploding out of the girl's back; shredding the back of her clothes completely.

Hinata stumbled back, holding her aching chest while trying to still keep her modesty with the tattered remains of her clothes. Her breathing was heavy and labored as she tried to stop herself from coughing only to fail and for the blood dripping from her mouth to increase in volume.

She continued to cough up blood while her shaking legs tried to hold her lithe body up.

"Look at how pathetic you are." Neji chastised while welding a nasty grin. "Is that really all the power that the main branch has?"

Hinata tried to calm her breathing. "Who really is the pathetic one here?" She looked up at her cousin with a knowing smirk. "The girl trying to pass her exam and fend for her life? Or the boy who is taking out all of his family frustrations on his cousin?"

Neji's smirk instantly turned into a terrible scowl. This impudent girl still had the gall to talk down to him even as she stood naked and bleeding. The arrogance of the main branch knew no bounds!

Without saying a word, Neji charged forward; palms posed to strike his cousin down completely. He was not going to stand for this week girl to continue to shame both the Hyuuga clan and himself. He was going to end it here and now!

Hinata tried to prepare to defend herself, but found herself simply too weak to even lift her arms. Apparently during their previous confrontation, Neji had been successful in hitting several vital point on her arms; making them completely useless. All she could do was stand and await her cousin's finishing blow.

Just before his hand could reach the defenseless girl, a large plum of smoke appeared around him. The smoke quickly dissipated to reveal four of the Leaf's jonin instructors blocking Neji's attack and holding him back from trying to proceed any further.

"You need to learn to control your temper." Kakashi stated while holding a single finger against the genin's forehead.

"You won already." Kurenai decided to add in. "There is no need to attack _my_ student any further."

"I fear that you require a lot more training than I had originally thought." Neji's own sensei, Gai, stated solemnly. He looked over to the proctor.

Said man gave a cough before raising one hand. "Neji Hyuuga is the victor."

Neji relaxed. The jonin all returned to their previous locations while Neji walked back quietly.

Hinata could not help the small smile that formed on her face. She tried to take a step forward only to find herself suddenly falling forward. She was juat barely able to catch herself as the pain from Neji's attack racked her body. Her vision started to become unfocused and blurry.

She was about to fall back when the two medics on duty caught her before she could completely tip over. They gently placed the girl on a stretcher before hauling her off to seek proper medical attention.

As the young girl was being carted off, Hinata stole a look towards Naruto. The boy's expression was of pure awe.

Hinata smiled softly. She had succeeded in what she had originally set out to do. Naruto had noticed her. He had seen that she was more than just the heir to a powerful clan. He saw her as a warrior.

Now she just needed for him to see her as a girl.

Hinata closed her eyes as thoughts of Naruto seeing her as a woman and doing very very lewd things to her naked and defenseless body filled her mind.


	14. Chapter 14

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 14**

* * *

With the second portion of the Chunin Exam coming closer and closer to it's finale; everyone was getting antsy for the last fight to finally be done and over with.

Lucky for everyone, the last fight was very short; with Sakura literally punching her opponent so hard that he became embedded within the while behind him. She held nothing back from the very beginning.

After every fight and with the official end of the second portion of the exam; the entire fighting arena looked more like a destroyed battle field than a small combat arena.

All of the victors met down at the destroyed arena while the Hokage stepped forward.

"I wish to be the first to congratulate all of you who showed remarkable skill during this portion of the Chunin Exams. Not to say that rest of you do not show any promise yourselves." He spoke in his usual authoritative tone before clearing his throat. "Now this is not the final step into climbing the rank to Chunin. There is one final challenge for you to face before your promotion."

His eyes scanned the crowd of genin in front of him. All of them waiting to hear what the old man had to say. Beside him, the proctor pulled out a box filled with folded slips of paper and made his way over to the young ninja.

"Inside that box you will pull out a folded slip of paper with a name." The old man said as the genin did just that. "That name belongs to your opponent in the final portion of the exam. You will have one week to train and prepare yourself. Treat this final test as if it were a life and death situation. You will be fighting not only for your opportunity to rank up, but also for your very life."

He looked upon the determined faces of the youth's before him. "Your squad leaders will give you the location and the time of the final part of this years Chunin Exams. I wish you all the best of luck."

With that, the aged village leader took his leave. Everyone else did the same with the proctor leading everyone through a safe passage that bypassed all of the dangers of the training ground surrounding the middle tower.

Once everyone had exited the training ground; they all took off to go do their own thing.

Naruto wandered around the village aimlessly. Still sulking over being denied a victory he knew he would have had if he had not disobeyed his village leader. He still could bring himself to hate the old man since Naruto knew that he himself had been wrong in disobeying a village leader.

Disobeying orders while on a mission could mean the failure of the mission; or even worse, the death of an ally. Naruto would never be able to forgive himself if his actions caused the death of a fellow villager; or even worse, one of his few friends.

To be honest; Naruto just felt all around terrible and just wanted the day to be over.

Naruto made his way through the village to his humble little apartment. Looking at it, one could see the fleshy growths that had once been confined to Naruto's small home starting to grow out of the tiny cracks and crevices the adorned the weathered building.

No matter how hard he tried, Naruto was unable to prevent that meaty gunk from spreading. He could slow it down; but stopping it was simply impossible.

The young lad made his way towards his apartment building, but before reaching the structure; Naruto suddenly found himself flying through the air.

He was caught completely off guard as he was hoisted off the ground by something wrapping around his waist. After just a moment of sailing up through the air; Naruto was left suspended by what appeared to be nothing.

Naruto looked around for a moment before the air in front of him shimmered and shifted until the massive form of La-Rn appeared before him. Her large form was standing on top of Naruto's apartment building and the force that had raised the boy off the ground had been one of her many hands picking him up like a doll.

She was so large and simply strange that the streets were too narrow for her to fit comfortably as well as to properly communicate to the much smaller human child.

Luckily no one lived in the surrounding area to freak out over the large abomination standing in broad daylight. Not many people feel comfortable living around the creator of the nightmarish creatures that wandered the streets.

"...Lover..." Her multiple voices moaned happily. She was pleased that he had not been hurt since their previous encounter as well him actually coming to her; even if she was at his home.

She raised another hand and used both to cradle Naruto so to at least leave him with some dignity instead of being carried around like some child's play thing. La-Rn then brought Naruto closer to her oddly shaped head and gave a soft moaning sound.

Naruto stared at the monster for a moment; wondering why this bizarre entity was standing on his roof. Then he finally remembered.

"You actually found my house!" Naruto said in surprise.

La-Rn made a soft moaning noise in reply. She slowly drew the boy closer to her head while still making that same strange sound. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"...Promise?"

Naruto looked away sheepishly. " I guess I did promise I would do anything if you stayed at my place." He looked down with a tint of read. "That was a poor choice of words."

La-Rn tilted her head slightly. Why was her lover's face turning red? He was not ill and showed not obvious signs of physical or mental distress. Digging into the memories she had received from her donor gave the being the answer.

He must be thinking sexual thoughts!

Her borrowed memories informed her that humans showed signs of bashfulness, shyness, nervousness, as well as an increase in body temperature and increased blood flow to the face when they were thinking about copulation and similar acts.

Since Naruto was acting as such now; then that must mean he is thinking about doing sexual activities with La-Rn herself.

But; there was a problem with that. La-Rn's kind did not reproduce the traditional way that most animals and other sentient life did. Her kind would jettison large pods filled with spores out of their strangely-shaped skulls, directly into the stratosphere; where they would hopefully meet with another of their kind's spores and eventually form into a new being.

Physical reproduction was something completely new to her; even if she did have the knowledge about the subject from her donor. But she was more than happy to learn. Even if it was physically impossible.

Naruto looked back at the larger monster. "So, what is it that you want me to do? I promised I would do anything; so I can't really say no to anything you ask of me."

La-Rn pushed the thoughts of sexual reproduction into the back of her mind. Her lover had agreed to do anything she desired, no matter what it may be. The problem was; what should she have him do?

She had thought about what she would have him do for her all the while she had waited for his return to his home. Yet there really was not anything that he could do that she could not.

The powerful being slowly lowered Naruto back down to the ground right when an idea started to form within her oddly-shaped head. The tendrils that formed behind her head brightened as did her tail and wire-like wings.

A soft moan came from within her as she tried to not look directly at Naruto. She kept her feet firmly planted on the roof of the apartment as her long body easily bent down over the edge. One pair of arms held her steady against the walls of the structure while the rest were placed on the ground below.

Naruto looked at La-Rn in confusion. Said entity noticed the boy's look fixated on her and suddenly felt her body temperature rise even more. She had to bring one of her hands up to her head and try to hide her own increasingly purple-ing head from his view.

Oh why was she suddenly feeling so shy and apprehensive when she had not even said what she had wanted her lover to do? It was almost impossible for her to meet his curious gaze as the overwhelming feeling of being completely naked and vulnerable would take over the instant her eyes would lock with his.

"Something wrong?' Naruto asked ask La-rn used another hand to try and cover her non-existent face. Naruto was simply unable to understand the creature's sudden and drastic change in demeanor.

Eventually, La-Rn was able to slowly tear one hand away from her head and held it out, palm down, towards Naruto.

Naruto looked at the offered hand with a raised eyebrow before looking back at La-Rn with the same confused expression.

La-Rn gave a shaky sigh before taking a very deep breath and trying to calm her quivering nerves. "...H...H...Hold..." Her multiple voices stuttered out while still holding her hand out to Naruto.

The young lad looked down at the large offered appendage before looking back at La-Rn with his usually big goofy smile. "Is that all?" Naruto asked before reaching out and gently grabbing one of La-Rn's large fingers.

Said monster let out an indescribable sound while covering her head with all of her hands, sans the one currently being held by Naruto.

Why was she acting so strangely? La-Rn herself was frustrated with her sudden and embarrassing reaction to such a simple request. Signs of affection were not uncommon among her kind; she had seen both of the heads of her her family display such affection more times than she could count. At no time did either act in such a reserved fashion about showing or being shown any signs of affection.

This must be all her donor's fault.

The two stood there in silence; with Naruto still holding La-Rn's finger and said monster still making her soft moaning noises while being too shy to look directly into Naruto's eyes.

After a few moments of the two just standing there; Naruto too began to get slightly red in the face due to their current position. She may be a monster, but La-Rn was still a girl; and holding the hand of a girl was still something new to the young boy.

It wasn't anything bad; far from it. Naruto found the girl's large hand to be surprisingly smooth and soft. The closest thing he could compare it to would be the skin of an eel but without the slime. It was rather nice to the touch.

Naruto was so focused on the feeling and texture of La-Rn's hand that he failed to notice her slowly stop covering her head and actually look at Naruto unrestricted.

She watched the boy as his wondering gaze looked over every inch of La-Rn's soft yet strong skin. The surprise and wonder in his eyes as his other hand came up and softly traced across the finger he was holding up to the back of her hand was encapsulating to the other-worldly being.

La-Rn watched as Naruto continued to explore her hand. Her embarrassment and shyness quickly ebbed away and in it's place was the familiar soft and warm feeling she had felt whenever her thoughts were drawn to the lad.

The female beast took the opportunity to study her love. Her gaze traced every feature of his young face in detail. His soft boyish face, his deep blue-eyes, his surprisingly soft and gentle hands.

Naruto himself took advantage of La-Rn's passive behavior to actively study the creature. The smooth texture of her alien skin that hide amazingly strong muscles and power beyond that of what his mind could comprehend. The strange empty shell-like head that no matter how hard he tried to peer into the darkness; all he could see was inky blackness.

She was just as strange and unbelievable as the entity sealed within him; yet she was almost the exact opposite in nearly every way possible.

She was strong beyond all belief; if what he witnessed during the second portion of the Chunin Exams was anything to go by. Yet, she was not anywhere as monstrous in attitude or in action as the other creature. Her actions, while moving with purpose and goal, where not calculated and methodical as the the few he had witnessed the entity make. Her movements held a unique grace and elegance that seemed to come naturally to her.

Naruto was not sure of La-Rn's grace was from her being what she was, or if it was just something that all girls were just naturally able to do. Either way, watching her move was absolutely encapsulating. It kind of reminded the young lad of the fight between the two Hyuuga's he had witnessed a short while ago and how their very form of fighting was almost like an elegant, yet aggressive, dance.

Naruto caught himself staring at the monstrous girl and quickly averted his gaze while his face grew a bright pink.

La-Rn noticed his shy response and her own tentacles became an even brighter purple. He must really want to perform sexual reproduction with her! His eyes held a level of interest that she could only assume to be that of lust. Do be desired so much was something completely new and foreign to La-Rn that she had no real idea of how to proceed; let alone how to change her physiology to allow for such action.

Maybe she should talk to one of her parents. Their age and wisdom far surpassed her own and they have experienced things far beyond what most other living, or non-living, entities could even dream.

While she knew she was unable to perform the act of sexual reproduction with her lover; La-Rn knew from her donor's memories that male human experienced a form of discomfort when in a state of sexual arousal. And, while the discomfort would eventually vanish away, La-Rn could not bring herself to just let the pain her love experience to be because of her. She wanted to make sure he never experience any kind of pain at all. It was her duty as his lover.

She slowly brought her other arm around and gently pushed against the back of Naruto's legs; forcing the boy to fall back and land in her palm while letting out a shout of surprise. She crawled backwards until her entire body was back onto the roof before gently setting Naruto down.

"You know I can jump up to here, right?" Naruto said while getting back to his feet; only to be gently pushed back down by La-Rn's finger.

"Hey?!" Naruto protested only for the very tip of La-Rn's finger to gently press itself against his lips and her collective voices made a soft hushing sound.

"Make...better..." She whispered while slowly placing two of her hands n either side of the young boy and leaning over him.

The position along with the feeling of complete and total helplessness made Naruto's face brighten once again. He tried to protest but suddenly found his mouth very very dry as the monster above him slowly lowered her head closer to his.

Her vein-like wings moved around her to reach Naruto's prone form and gently caressed the boy's face while slowly wriggling themselves underneath his clothes.

"H-Hey!" Naruto was suddenly able to find his voice and made an attempt to sit up just as La-Rn gently pressed her head against his. A constant stream of soft moans echoed from her empty skull as her tendrils continued to work their way through his clothing and slowly began to peel each article off of his young body.

Naruto tried to resist by grabbing at and yanking away the wriggling appendages; but found his strength being zapped away as La-Rn continued to explore his body.

Eventually, the creature was able to remove all of Naruto clothes and neatly folded them and gently placed them on the roof, out of the way. Naruto had quickly covered his private region as best he could while sporting the reddest face he had ever made. He had never felt this embarrassed, shy, and helpless before in his life.

La-Rn leaned back a bit and looked her lover in all of his bare glory. There was just something to enticing about his small body that made the girl want to make him blush so much more. And so she did just that, by using her second pair of arms to firmly pull Naruto's arms away from his crotch.

The other worldly being looked down at Naruto's groin with an intense stare. She found herself completely enraptured by the shape and size of the amazing organ and it's too smaller companions.

She had seen the genitals of many a form of life before; from other sentient forms of life to pets and cattle. But this was the reproductive organ of her lover; it was a part of him, his most private physical part. She felt her own body heat up with lust as the desire to breed welled up within her. That was not normal for her kind due to the above stated methods they reproduce; this increase in body temperature must be due to her donor's own psychology.

But now was not the time to be concerned with her own needs, but the needs of her lover.

La-Rn looked at Naruto's semi-hard member with a moment of hesitation. How was she going to relieve her lover? Her hands were much too large and her tendril-like wings and tail lacked the level of dexterity necessary to accurately pleasure him. She dug deep into her mind to find a quick solution when an idea from her donor popped into her empty head.

Suddenly, one came to her. It was very odd to the monster girl; but if would bring joy and pleasure to her lover, then she would happily do it.

She leaned her head back slightly and made a soft coughing noise before a mass of dripping, wriggling, tongue-like appendages exploded out from within the darkness of her skull. Several more tendril forests appeared from the varying holes that made up La-Rn's oddly shaped head; each dripping a bitch black liquid.

All Naruto could do was gulp loudly as La-Rn's many voices began to moan once again as she slowly lowered her head back down to Naruto. Several of her tendrils gently licked and caressed Naruto while her second pair of arms gently picked Naruto up off the roof and held him up to her head.

The creature slowly brought Naruto's member close to her head; allowing her tongues to quickly wrap around and caress the hardening appendage. Naruto tried to resist his growing arousal at the feeling of the several strong, warm, and wet tongues gently licking and pressing against his dick; but he could not fight the feeling and finally let out a small grunt of pleasure.

Hearing just that small sound of her lover enjoying her actions brought untold joy to La-Rn and made the desire to pleasure Naruto more grow deep within her. So, she brought him closer to her head; allowing more of her hungry tongues to wrap around and lap at the delicious taste of her lover. She found his taste to be quit addicting. She found herself unable to resist lapping at every exposed inch of his rock-hard member.

The feeling was like nothing Naruto had ever felt before. He could feel the strong, wet appendages lap and stroke at every single inch of his cock. Each tracing the tiny bumps and veins that decorated his male organ. Several other tongues had taken to licking and caressing his sack. Each tongue being careful to cover Naruto in as much warm saliva as possible.

Naruto's body began to shake as he clenched his eyes and teeth and tried to resist bucking his hips into the warm, wriggling mass. He ultimately failed however and could not stop his hips from jerking and forcing his cock deeper into the forest of tongues.

La-Rn gave an approving moan as she felt her lover react very positively to her actions. She slowly drew the boy in closer and closer to one of the larger holes that made up her skull until the very tip of his penis touched the inky blackness held within her holed carapace-like head.

She held Naruto there for a while and let him moan and buck his hips while still keeping his cock from actually entering the hole. She wanted to prolong his pleasure for as long as possible.

But it was not long before Naruto was forced to open his eyes and stare into another of La-Rn's many dark holes. "P-Please." He begged as sweat beaded upon his forehead. He could feel his climax growing, but La-Rn's many tongues; while pleasurable beyond belief, also prevented him from obtaining his much sot after release.

A choirs of giggles came from within La-Rn. She find his pleading voice and desperate expression incredibly cute and wanted to experience them both for as long as possible. That was until her tongues began to focus on the very tip of Naruto's throbbing cock and collected a large glob of pre-cum that had accumulated over the course of her torturing of the youth.

The sudden explosion of taste and flavor surprised the entity as much as her enjoyment of it. La-Rn could taste every little bit of her lover's very essence when tasting the glob of flavor.

She wanted more.

A lot more.

Her tongues began to work twice as hard on Naruto's dick; all in an effort to get the boy to produce more of that heavenly fluid.

Naruto was forced to reach forward and grab a hold of the lattice-like structure of La-Rn's head just to keep himself grounded in the conscious world. The creature's sheer ferocity and technique were far too much for the boy to handle and he felt himself nearing closer and closer to his inevitable end.

La-Rn had become so enraptured in trying to coax more of that delicious pre-cum out of her lover that she failed to try and hold Naruto still; allowing the young boy to surprise her with a powerful thrust of his hips.

Naruto's cock pushed past the nest of tongues and entered, in it's entirety, into the dark abyss of La-Rn's head. Naruto's grip became vice-like as his cock was suddenly wrapped in an a soothing, pleasurable warmth he never could have thought existed.

La-Rn made an almost gagging kind of sound upon the sudden intrusion into one of her many holes; but was not at all displeased.

A small trail of saliva dripped from the corner of Naruto's voice as his head leaned back and his hips jerked without rhythm.

La-Rn could feel her lover's organ swell before an explosion of hot, thick and delicious liquid burst forth from the tip of said organ. She could taste every strand that spurt out from the small opening in massive bursts. This amazing concoction was even more heavenly tasting than the small droplets she had tasted earlier.

Her large hands pushed Naruto's hips closer and held him there has he released burst after burst of his life-giving fluids inside her massively empty skull. Every last drop was more welcomed than that last. She held him there until his jerking cock had finally calmed down and the last of the torrent of cum had finally been released into her hungry form.

She continued to hold Naruto inside her until she could feel his member slowly return to it's normally soft state. Even when finally pulling him free, her many tongues could not help but stroke and lick at every exposed inch until he had been pulled out from within their reach.

Naruto's body had gone completely limp in La-Rn's hands. His chest moved heavily with each tired breath.

"...Lover...Better...?" La-Rn's voices giggled while sounding lovingly pleased.

Naruto's face brightened a little and he tried not to look directly at the creature. A small wave of shame washed over him. She had decided for some unknown reason to pleasure him, and yet he had not shown any sign of actually wanting the sexual interaction. She had wanted to make the boy feel good of her own volition and he had no way of returning the pleasure to her.

It simply did not feel fair to the young ninja. How could he ever be able to return such a selfless action?

La-Rn used one of her hands to gently force Naruto's head to turn and look directly at her. She gently pressed her head against Naruto's once more.

"...Come...La-Rn...Need...Help..." Her voices were gentle and kind. The creature used her tendril-like wings to pick up Naruto's clothes and began to make an attempt to try and actually dress the lad.

Unfortunately it was a lot harder for the creature to dress her lover; so out of embarrassment and slight irritation, La-Rn reluctantly set Naruto back down onto the roof and handed him his clothes.

She felt a since of sadness upon watching Naruto slowly get is clothes back on. His face was bright red as he tried his best not to directly look at the creature that had just pleasured him.

La-Rn found herself sad that her lover was once again covered in his usual clothing. There was just something appealing to see his naked form in all of it's bare glory. She had found herself more interested in pleasing him more than she had before. The act felt so, freeing, unevolved, bestial in a sense; and she loved it.

She was now more determined than ever to find a way to form her own reproductive system; as well as the pleasure centers associated with it, so that she could properly express her love for the young human.

"Um..." Naruto tried to find some way to break what he felt to be an awkward silence. "Thank you?"

La-Rn's many voices giggled once again.

Naruto still felt drained.

"I think I'll be heading off for a nap." He made to leap off the roof and onto the floor where his apartment stood; only to be snagged right out of the air by one of La-Rn's large hands.

"...Still...Owe..." She mumbled while holding Naruto against her thin chest. She may have just experienced a form of human lust, but that was not what she wanted in return for doing as Naruto had asked of her.

"Alright then," Naruto said while trying to turn around, but La-Rn's grip on the boy was too strong so he was forced to settle at staring out at the village instead of politely looking at the person/creature he was talking to. "Have you decided what you wanted?"

La-Rn looked out at the village for a moment before finally speaking. "...Time..."

"Wha-?"

"Want...Time...Lover...To...Gether..." She answered his unasked question.

That was not too extreme of a request. Her lover was sure to want to spend at least a small amount of time with her after she had just performed such a lewd act upon him.

"Is that what you really want?" Naruto asked while looking up at La-Rn still looking out across the large village. The creature looked down at the boy before giving an affirmative hum and nodding her head quickly.

"Alright.: Naruto shrugged. "We can do that."

* * *

Hinata was sitting straight up in her hospital bed. The hospital doctors were quick in healing the damage done to her by her cousin. Her arms, legs and waist had been wrapped up and treated. Her heart had taken a nasty beating during the fight and so she was to remain in the hospital for a few days until she had made a full recovery. How long that was going to take was anybody's guess.

The reason for her sitting straight up and not laying down resting was because of the insatiable need that had been building up within her who knows for how long. It had started when she felt like as if her tongue was touching something besides the inside of her mouth.

At first it just felt like something small was pressing against it, but then she felt it feel somehow 'bigger' as well as moved around quiet a bit. And the taste was something else.

An unusual flavor flooded the young girl's mouth as she felt the unknown object move over her tongue. The only way she could explain the flavor was, 'strong' but very tasty in an even more addictive way.

Hinata let the feeling of the object moving around her mouth and through her tightly sealed lips; enjoying both the feeling and the taste.

The young ninja was suddenly caught by surprise when she felt the strange object that-was-not-really-there suddenly plunged itself deeper into her mouth and down the front of her throat.

She gagged violently at the sudden feeling of protrusion; but the feeling never left so she was forced to gag repeatedly as the unknown object continued to move and thrust about inside her mouth.

Eventually, Hinata got used to the feeling and her gagging slowed until eventually subsiding.

All of it; the feeling, the taste, all of it was causing a very familiar reaction to occur in between the young woman's legs. A feeling she was much too happy to deal with.

To an outside observer, Hinata appeared to be simply staring forward while only slightly moving her right arm. In reality she had moved aside the hospital gown she wore to allow her access to her dripping snatch.

She enjoyed the very few rare moments where she can actually sate her desires. Living in a home where everyone can see through walls as well as being on a team consisting of a dog-boy and bug-man made it completely impossible for her to do so regularly.

So, instead of attacking her dripping cunt with the fervor of a starved man given a buffet; Hinata went about as slowly as possible at her self pleasure.

Two of her fingers went about slowly plunging in and out of her love canal while her other slowly snaked up and began to slowly and gently fondle one of her growing breasts. Her hands moved slowly, gently, but with purpose; Hinata wanted this to last for as long as possible.

The hand on her breast moved the fleshy mound around slowly while occasionally flicking her hardened nipple with a finger; each time she touched the sensitive nub a small squeak would leave her soft lips. Occasionally she would stop rubbing her breast entirely and would pinch her nipple and pull it away from her body; forcing a more womanly moan to escape her throat and echo within the small hospital room.

Her other hand pressed itself firmly against her mound as her two fingers pleasured her core. She would plunge two of her fingers in as deeply as possible and wound feel around the inside of her wet cave. Her fingers trying to touch every single fold within reach before being pulled out slowly; pressing as hard as possible against the top of her walls; dragging them along every crevice.

Even thought she tried to go as slowly as possible; the feeling building up within her grew rabidly and the young girl was unable to resist speeding up her actions. Her hand motions sped up to match the speed of the feeling in her mouths rhythm until they were one and the same. Her fingers plunged into her love hole at the same time as the feeling of the unknown object went deeper into her throat.

Eventually, Hinata was forced to give into her desires and her hands motions sped up significantly. She had gone from sitting straight up to once more laying back into the bed with her shoulders, neck, and the heels of her feet pressing down hard as the rest of her was arched off the bed.

The one hand she had been using to massage her breast had rolled her gown all the way up to her neck and was now massging her breast with much more vigor with the occasional soft pinch to her hard nipple.

Hinata's other hand was vigorously pumping her fingers in and out of her sopping wet pussy with the sound of her juices being audible to even the most hard of hearing. Her hips continued to rise higher and higher off of the bed in a desperate effort to get her fingers deeper and deeper inside of her. The ninja even let go of her breast with the other hand to press her palm on her butt to push herself even higher off of the bed.

It looked like the young ninja was trying to shove her entire hand into her snatch with how fast and hard she pumped her hand into the tight hole. Her other hand had gone from the occasional pinch and grope to full on mauling her tit. Her fingers sank into the plump flesh as she moved it this way and that; all in an effort to pull the strongest orgasm possible out from her deepest parts.

It was only after a sudden explosion of a euphoric flavor suddenly splashing all over her mouth did Hinata reach the orgasm she was so desperate for.

She pressed both of her hands firmly against her mound as she bit into the top of her hospital gown in a desperate attempt to silence her scream of pleasure. Hinata's hips jerked violently as she pressed her hands harder and harder against her sensitive lower lips; trying to prolong her orgasm for as long as possible.

Eventually, the pleasure began to fade and the girl let her body fall back to the bed. The ninja left her hands pressed against her slightly throbbing pussy as her high slowly ebbed away. She did not bother to cover herself as she laid there, panting, sweating, and staring up at the blank white hospital ceiling.

The strange feeling she had in her mouth just moments ago was now long gone. But the taste still remained and she desperately wanted more. The thought of living with that strange flavor permanently was not a bad idea in her mind.

Hinata continued to lay there in the bed; her mind trying to fight away the aftermath fog of pleasure. Once she could think clearly, the young girl could not help but wonder where that strange feeling and taste had come from.

She wanted more and more of it; but had no idea how she had even experienced that amazing taste and feeling.

She had a new life goal; find that flavor once again and covet it beyond all reason.


	15. Chapter 15

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 15**

* * *

Naruto walked through the village in what one could only describe as a manner trying NOT to bring attention to oneself. Obviously his manner of walking did anything _but_ bring all possible attention to himself.

And not a single soul could see why.

He was wearing his normal clothes, he had no visible marking that could be misconstrued as embarrassing or humiliating; he was not even holding anything that he could in trouble for possessing.

The thing causing the young lad so much discomfort was the massive extra-dimensional entity walking right behind him. For some reason none of the villagers appeared to notice or even see the being.

Naruto just thanked his lucky stars; it was bad enough when the village went into a panic because of his undead creations, he really did not need the village to loss it's shit over another monster.

The only reason he was even walking about the village with La-Rn was because the Hokage had called for him earlier that morning, and he _did_ promise the creature that he would spend the day with her.

La-Rn agreed to wait patiently for her lover upon reaching the Hokage's Tower; she was displeased with the fact that her time was to be interrupted; but she knew better than to meddle in affairs that did not concern her.

Naruto entered the tower and made his way to the village leader's office. Inside he was mildly surprised/terrified to see not just the old man but Lady Orochimaru awaiting for him as well.

They young ninja was hesitant to enter the room; memories of what the beautiful woman had done to him came flooding back.

"Please enter, Naruto." The Hokage said in his usual leadership-like tone. He held a friendly hand outward, "You have nothing to worry about. You are not in any kind of trouble."

Naruto slowly entered the room; his eyes never leaving Orochimaru's soft, smiling face. He finally looked at his leader upon approaching the old man's desk.

"First, I want to tell you that this is not about you disobeying my orders during the Chunin Exam." The old man stated bluntly.

Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but the Hokage continued on.

"We agreed that you would not use your monsters during the exam and you deliberately disobeyed me. It does not matter your reasoning behind it; disobeying anyone higher up could lead to the failure of any mission;, the deaths of your allies and being seen as a traitor to the entire village."

The Hokage's glare silence any opposition Naruto might have had to the old man's words.

"Understood?" It was less of a question and more of an order.

Naruto just gave a stiff nod.

The Hokage's demeanor instantly changed as a warm smile graced his wrinkled old face.

"Now, I bet your wondering why I called for you; and why Lady Orochimaru is here." His voice had become kind once again.

"Yeah." Naruto said hesitantly while giving the woman standing close to him a very antsy look.

The old man ignored Naruto's hesitant voice and continued.

"As you know, Lady Orochimaru has been kind enough to dedicate her invaluable time to researching your creatures and your ability to control them. She is here to test one of her theories and I _know_ you would be more than _happy_ to help her." His words were kind but their meaning was obvious. Naruto had no choice.

Orochimaru just smiled sweetly as the old man spoke.

Naruto gave the Hokage a pitiful look before sadly nodding and accepting his fate.

"Would you please follow me, Naruto?" Orochimaru asked sweetly. She looked at the old Hokage; still smiling her same sweet smile. "You can join us too if you wish."

"U-unfortuntely I will have to decline." Sarutobi quickly said; he tried to hide his own fear of that woman and how scary she really was; even when acting as sweet as one's own mother. He quickly picked up a nearby pen and began scribbling on the closest sheet of paper within reach. Anything to make himself look busy.

Lady Orochimaru just smiled before gently pushing Naruto out of the room. She lead the boy straight out of the main part of the village and towards one of the many training grounds that littered the surrounding city.

There was a tall, thin temporary structure that Orochimaru and Naruto both climbed to the top of. The top of the hastily constructed tower had a simple wooden railing surrounding a small wooden standing. It was tall enough to allow both to easily see the entire training ground.

This specific training area was designed to incorporate about half of a nearby scrapyard; adding a variety of different obstacles and hazards ranging from rusted nails to collapsing piles of rusted steel.

"Now all I want you to do, my Naruto; is to watch." Lady Orochimaru said with that same beautiful smile she had since arriving in the Hokage's office. She pointed out to the farthest edge of the admittedly large training area.

Naruto looked at where the woman was pointing and saw a single male shinobi that looked about as friendly as Naruto's largest monstrosity. The man was not overly large or heavily scarred; but his fowl facial expression along with the simple feeling of uneasiness about him was enough for Naruto to tell he was far from a friend.

"That man is a murderer and a traitor to the Village Hidden within the Leaves. He is also a man desperate for both freedom and power." She gave Naruto a small smile. "So, I promised the man his freedom as well as the privileged to become the village leader as well as to bed me; but only if he is able to make his way to this tower and kill you."

Naruto gave the woman an incredulous look. He was simply unable to really believe the words that had just left her mouth.

The lady ninja saw Naruto's expression before reaching out and gently holding his young face in both of her hands.

"Worry not, my precious Naruto. That man will not make it even close to this tower of ours." Her smile remained sweet and sincere as Naruto's face grew a bright shade of red.

"Or were you worried that I would have to uphold my promise and sleep with this man?"

Naruto's eyes looked away from Lady Orochimaru's slowly encroaching face while his own became even brighter. The woman moved her head to the side slightly before pressing her check against Naruto's with her mouth right by his ear; her hands had migrated to the boy's shoulders.

"I will be sure to keep myself pure and unsullied until your are ready to become mine." She whispered hotly before gently blowing on Naruto's ear.

Naruto's entire body locked up; he was completely frozen and had no idea what to do. Sure; La-Rn had played with him before, but she was not a famous, super intelligent, super powerful ninja who was feared, respected and lusted after by nearly every single human within the entire ninja nations.

The woman pulled herself away from Naruto while still giving that same sweet smile before turning and taking a seat on a simple wooden chair that Naruto had not noticed before.

Naruto felt a nasty chill slowly crawl up his spine and turned to see La-Rn standing behind the tower; her head easily reaching over the structure with her legs outstretched.

Naruto's blood ran cold as he could almost swear to see the aura of malice circling around the otherworldly creature. She was not pleased to see another female trying to get close to her lover. But there was nothing she could really do about it.

"Now watch." Lady Orochimaru said; drawing Naruto's attention away from La-Rn and back towards the man slowly making his way towards the tower.

Lady Orochimaru's expression instantly changed from the soft sweet yet elegant and powerful smile she often wore to a hard, cold calculating expression that was almost scary to the young ninja standing near her. Gone was here soft and beautiful eyes, they had become cold and calculating; a glare that could pierce any armor and could find any and every single weakness in any defense.

The woman opened the front of her robe and pulled out a clipboard with some papers on it along with a pen and began to scribble down something that involved her study of Naruto's creatures.

Naruto walked over to the railing and watched as the ninja below slowly traversed the nearly maze-like training ground.

The man had been given everything he had on his person before his imprisonment; including any and all weapons he might have had. He currently had a single kunai equipped in both hands held in a very cautious and defensive manner. He walked slowly while carefully scanning every inch of the land surrounding him.

He took a chance and glanced up at the tower a relatively short distance away. He could see the brat watching him; that child he was told to kill for not just his own freedom, but more power than he could ever had imagined.

The fact that the woman sitting next to the boy promised to bed him was just icing on the cake; but first he had to actually reach that tower. He could not risk attacking from a distance; no doubt that woman would protect the boy if the man tried.

He had to reach the boy and insure that he was killed. They put him in this old training ground with that simple instruction; but he knew that it was going to be much harder than that.

There must be traps hidden all over the training ground as well as potentially an entire platoon of ninja instructed to end his life and protect the boy. Why they had not shown up and why no traps had gone off yet was a question that the man simply had no answer for.

But he was still going to remain cautious and alert until either a threat could be identified or he was able to reach that tower.

He approached the corner of a small wall of crushed metal waste. He listened closely for any signs of anyone hiding on the other side before slowly peeking around the corner.

The very second he tried to, however, something went whizzing by his head from behind. The man quickly turned around just in time to see...something scuttle away behind another mound of trash.

The man glared at the spot where he saw, whatever he saw, run to. Part of him wanted to hunt down and kill the foolish thing for trying to attack him from behind. Fortunately, his rational side knew that doing so would be suicide and attempted to slowly move around the trash wall his back was now pressed up against.

The instant his head went past the wall, the something thin moving quickly through the air behind him forced him to duck out of the way of a large blade swinging directly where his neck once was and slicing into the wall of discarded metal.

The man quickly rolled out of the way as the blade was violently yanked out of the steel. He quickly turned to face his attacker while coming out the roll just to see one of the many undead nightmares that he had heard were now all over the village.

The creature roared at the man before slowly approaching with that same strange wobbly walk that all Slashers were known for. Another came out from within the trees; as did another, and another.

Nearly half a dozen of the strange monsters had come out from hiding and were now converging on the man's location. They quickly surrounded the man while slowly walking towards him; snarling, growling and roaring the entire time. Waving their bladed arms about and generally trying to be as terrifying as possible.

As the monsters grew closer; the man tried to think of way to get out of the situation. He had no techniques that could handle being surrounded without leaving himself open. The only option he saw was to just force his way past them and high-tail it to the tower.

The man quickly threw his weapon at the monster in front of him; it did not even notice the metal tool embed itself into it's dead chest. The man quickly turned around and ran towards another of the bladed creatures only to quickly slide past it as it and the creature closest to it swung wildly at him.

The man quickly ran for the tower; only taking a chance to glance behind him only to see the monsters standing around watching him; not showing any signs of following.

He stopped his running and stared back at the creatures. They still snarled, roared and flashed their blades about, but they refused to take a step closer to following their target.

The man was confused by the monsters' sudden lack of motivation only to hear what could best be described as the sound of a charging steam engine heading right towards him.

He leapt out of the way just as the sound was upon him and the trash pile next to him exploded violently as something large and angry plowed right through it.

The criminal now had some...thing, blocking his path towards the tower and he was not about to look back and see what it was. He had to find another way to get to it.

He could hear the heavy monster charging right behind him. Unlike it's brethren, this one really wanted the criminal's head.

As he got closer and closer to the tower; the man made a mad dashing leap straight for a nearby tree just so that whatever was following him would not be able to get him.

The instant he made to do so however, a blade burst out from within the nearby bushes and swiped at the man; nicking the very back of his ankle.

This caused the man to stumble, fall and to suddenly find himself completely surrounded by more of those living nightmares than he had encountered before.

One of the bladed monstrosities separated itself from the pack by approaching the man and raising both of it's arms high into the air. It did so slowly, all the while staring the man right in the eyes.

Right as it brought it;s arms as high as it possible could; it launched them straight down at the man's torso. Unfortunately, the criminal had already been going through a series of hand seals and in a puff of smoke had replaced himself with a broken toilet.

The porcelain structure shattered upon being struck by the monster. It and those surrounding it began to roar and thrash about in anger before quickly locating their target making a hobbled run for their master.

The cut to the back of his leg had cut deep. Too deep. And he did not have the time to treat the injury. He had to get to that tower now before those monsters could catch up to him.

They took their time.

They could smell and fear pouring off of the man.

The knew he had no way of getting away form them.

His life ended a long time ago; he simply refused to accept it.

They slowly converged on the man as he finally reached the tower. He had pulled out another kunai before attempting to climb the tower. He had to kill that brat. He just had to! He would have everything if he could just plunge this damn weapon into the little bastard's neck.

That little shit had watched the entire time; and he watched still as the man struggled to climb the tower. There was no reaction in the kid's face. Not a single ounce of fear or worry could be seen.

That short bastard must be having the time of his life, seeing him struggle against his freaks.

He was going to enjoy killing this brat.

The criminal tried to pull himself up the tower; his injured leg made it difficult since putting any sort of weight on it caused terrible pain to shoot right through it as well as several large globs of blood to leak out from the large gash.

He was finally able to get off the ground when he felt horrible pain course through his damaged leg. He looked back to see one of those bladed terrors standing behind him with one of it's sharp weapons having gone right through his leg.

With a hard tug, the monster yanked the man right off the tower and onto the ground; twisting his legs around and breaking the limb at the knee.

The man screamed loudly as the creature pulled and yanked at the man's leg in an effort to free it's blade from within it's fleshy prison. All the while, the other creatures once again surrounded the prone man. This time however, several lunged forward and quickly pierced the man's shoulders and began to pull away from their struggling comrade.

The man screamed as a loud tear echoed throughout the training area. The monster had finally freed itself from it's prey, by ripping the man's leg off from the knee down.

The other creatures moved in and began to kill the man in their own unique ways. They were slow about it. Tearing at flesh, breaking bone and ripping muscle at an agonizingly slow pace.

Naruto just watched the entire time.

This was nothing new to him.

This was a man who was to die in prison anyway. Was it not sporting to give this doomed man one more chance at life? Was Naruto doing something wrong by letting his creatures end this man's life now instead of letting him slowly wither and rot within a cell?

It was these questions that raced through Naruto's mind as the man's life was slowly taken away and his body was twisted and contorted into another member of Naruto's continuously growing family.

Naruto looked back at Lady Orochimaru; who had just finished writing and had stood up from her seat.

"What was the point of all that?" Naruto asked both in honest curiosity and mild annoyance.

The much older woman just gave the boy the same soft, sweet smile she always wore. "Just trying to figure out a thing or two. The few that you were ever so kind to lend me have been helpful, but there are simply just a few things I can not study without your invaluable help."

She reached forward and grabbed Naruto by the sides of his face before pulling him into a strong hug. She could feel his face heating up through her robes.

"Without you willing to help me, then I do not now what I would do." She sounded as sad and desperate as possible.

Naruto mumbled something from within her robes; the woman ignored it and allowed her hands to hold him closer to her bust.

"I should reward you." Her voice was hot and airy.

Her hands slowly trailed up and down Naruto's back.

Naruto mumbled something once again that the woman either did not hear or ignored completely.

Without warning, Orochimaru spun Naruto around before pressing his back firmly against her. Her breasts pressed against the back of his head, making the boy's face a permanent red.

She could feel the heat radiating off of him and smiled slyly.

"How should I reward you?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "What would a young man like yourself desire of a woman such as myself?"

As the legendary ninja pretended to think; Naruto was forced to stare headlong at an enraged La-Rn. A visible aura of malice had formed around the female creature as every tentacle thrashed around wildly.

Naruto was stuck between the embarrassment of being held so closely by the beautiful Orochimaru; and terrified of the powerful La-Rn.

Lady Orochimaru finally came up with a way to reward the youth and gently pushed his head away just a tad while still holding onto his chest. Naruto heard the sound of moving fabric before being pulled back against the taller woman.

His face grew even brighter as he felt two bare fleshy orbs press against either side of his young head. Naruto tried to keep his eyes focused forward as Lady Orochimaru chuckled above him.

"What ever could be the matter, my Little Naruto?" Her arms crossed over the boy's chest; forcing her breasts to press harder against his head.

Naruto tried his hardest to focus on everything else around him; but he could not help his eyes to wander to the pink tips of Orochimaru's heavy chest. The boy could feel a cold sweat roll down his back as his throat became suddenly very dry as he gulped hard.

"Come on now." The woman cooed gently. "You can do whatever you please to them." She pressed them harder against Naruto's head. "You can touch them, play with them. You can do whatever you like. I will not stop you."

Naruto had to clench his fists hard as to not give in; but it was the most challenging thing he ever had to do.

The woman's hands slowly trailed down Naruto's front before moving them to his arms and slowly trailing her hands down to the boy's hands. Her hands gently grabbed the back of his and pulled them up and crossed them before raising them up to just in front of her breasts.

"Go ahead." Lady Orochimaru whispered. "Touch them."

La-Rn's anger had become too much. This... _human_ had dared to attempt seducing her lover! And she could do nothing but watch. She was still unable to properly interact with this world and most of it's inheritance unless certain conditions had been met. It being the middle of the day just so happened to **not** be one of them; among several others.

If she was unable to fight this human woman for the sake of her lover; then she was going to insure that her lover knew who was the better female. She quickly dashed away; she was going to find a way to contact her people and show how determined she was to prove her love to her little human.

Seeing Naruto still not giving in; Lady Orochimaru sighed before forcing Naruto to turn around, grabbing his hands and firmly placing them on both of her bare breasts.

Still holding onto the boy's hands; the woman forced him to slowly move and knead her breasts.

"How do they feel, my little Naruto?" She asked sweetly.

Naruto was completely speechless. Sure, he had a dream or two about doing lewd things to some of the women around him; but they were just that, dreams. Wistful fantasies that were good for nothing more than pleasant thought and not anything that could ever potentially happen.

Yet here he was with both hands pressed against the amble bosom of one of the most powerful woman in the elemental nations without any risk of severe pain and agony.

"Do you like them?" She asked coyly. "You should feel honored. Only a select few have ever had the privileged of seeing my bare chest. Even fewer have had the opportunity to actually touch them."

She removed her hands and was pleased to see that Naruto continued to massage the globes of flesh. His eyes were transfixed by the mere sight of them. They were large and were still perky despite her age; with just a little bit of sag to show that not even a legend like Lady Orochimaru was immune to the effects of time.

His hand moved slowly as they circled the love pillows. He was afraid to put any more force or pressure in case he might hurt the woman. The last thing he wanted was this scary, yet beautiful beyond words, woman angry at him.

Almost sensing the boy's apprehension, Lady Orochimaru spoke up once again. "No need to hold back. You can play to your heart's content. You can do whatever you want to them."

Naruto looked up at the woman's smiling face before giving a slight nod and putting more force into his hands and began to move the woman's breasts a bit more. He noticed the hard pink nub that was the woman's nipple and decided to pinch the sensitive nub in between two of his fingers.

A small, almost completely inaudible moan crept out from within the older woman's throat as a tinge of pink began to form on her cheeks.

Despite her trying to hide the tiny sound of pleasure; Naruto was able to hear it and decided to pinch both of her nipples at the same time while lightly pulling on them.

Orochimaru tried to maintain her calm expression, but the boy's hands were starting to have an effect on her. But there was no way she was going to let him know that.

Naruto continued to pinch and massage the woman's chest while constantly looking from said area to the woman's face to check for any signs of pleasure or pain.

Her face continued to express nothing more than the same soft smile; with only the soft pink line across her face betraying the pleasure she felt.

Seeing the woman hold back any of her reactions, Naruto decided to try something new. He pinched both nipples between his fingers, sank his fingers into the woman's breasts, and pulled back ever so slightly.

The sudden change of motion as well as the act itself caused Orochimaru to let out an audible moan and bring a hand up to her mouth to silence herself from making any more possible noise. Her eyes wide with terror.

This kid just made her **moan!** Her! Lady Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin; **moaned** in pleasure because of some inexperienced virgin kid!

Naruto, hearing the sweet sound that had escaped the woman's lips, decided to try his pinch-and-pull technique once again to try and elicit another moan from the woman.

Despite her and covering her mouth; Lady Orochimaru could not stop the sound coming up from her throat and passing through her soft lips. His repeated assault on her sensitive skin was causing her body to heat up and she could feel her own urges start to wheal up.

"I-I think that is enough." Orochimaru said quickly while still trying to keep her usual tone of elegance and control. She had completely forgotten about the undead monsters just below them all because of that little boy's hands.

"Did you like your reward?" The woman gently removed Naruto's hands and readjusted her robes to cover her chest.

Naruto could only nod dumbly. He had never been given such a reward before and kinda' wished that he could have played with the woman's breasts for at least a little while more.

"Well." She made her way to the edge of the tower. "I will be heading back to the Hokage to discuss what I have learned. You are free to do whatever you please." She quickly turned around, bent over and planted a soft kiss on the side of Naruto's cheek.

"H-Hey!" Naruto stammered in surprise.

"If you help me next time I ask; I might give you an even better reward." The woman stated slyly before leaping away; leaving Naruto to stand there feeling an unusual mix of emotions that he really did not want to sort through.

And so he pushed all of his confusing emotions down and went back to wondering why that strange, but oh so beautiful woman had his monsters kill a seemingly normal ninja prisoner.

Naruto climbed down form the tower as his creations watched. Once he was on solid ground, they dispersed back to their previous hiding places; patiently waiting for their master's orders.

* * *

"So..." The Hokage began right before lighting his favorite pipe. He could recall the very first time he used it so many years ago and the calming feeling it gave him from way back then still was able to help sooth his aching bones and scrambled mind. He loved that hollow wooden tube almost as much as he loved his home.

"What did you learn?"

Lady Orochimaru sat across from the old man; her face serious and solemn. "Not anything good." She stated bluntly before pulling out a folder from within her robes.

The woman placed the folder onto the Hokage's desk, opened it, and spread it's contents all across the man's desk in one smooth motion. Several written papers accompanied by related pictures now covered the old man's desk.

"I would appreciate if you would elaborate just a little more."

The woman gave a defeated sigh. "They are learning."

"Well, Naruto is their master; so it would make since that they would start to learn from him." The Hokage explained.

"No, you misunderstand." The woman started. "They are not learning human things. They are learning how to exploit fear." She pulled aside a specific page. "A miss Ino Yamanaka told her instructor; your relative, Asuma Sarutobi, that Naruto had asked something in regards to being afraid."

"And what did she tell him?"

"She said that she just told him what being afraid really was and how some people use it to control others. Nothing else."

"So why should that be of any issue to any of us? So Naruto knows that people are afraid of his creations and why. Better than him not being aware and potentially ruining any political events he might be a part of." The old man explained before taking a long, calming inhale of his beloved pipe.

"The problem.." Orochimaru strained the word. "Is that they seemed to have learned what fear is just as he had." She pulled up another paper. "They have become more brutal in their killings since then. Before, they would go for as quick and direct a kill as possible. Almost instantly upon understanding fear; they all have become more drawn out about their methods of murder."

"How so? I am assuming that was your reason for taking Naruto today?"

"Yes. I wanted to see for myself their different killing methods. The few that I have contained are not able to give accurate results; so of course I needed the source itself to verify my claims."

"And?"

"And I saw everything I needed. They had several chances to simply kill their target; yet the either drew out the act or let the man go just so that they could dash any hope that he might have gained." She shuffled slightly in her seat. "Then, upon finally killing the man, they did it slowly. They drew out his death; apparently taking great care not to hit anything vital until they felt he was ready to die."

"You used a criminal. It is not beyond belief that Naruto learning about why the man was imprisoned might have carried over to his monsters and they felt that the man deserved their own form of justice for his crimes."

"But that is just it, Sarutobi." Orochimaru leaned forward. "They are not meant to feel anything but the desire to kill and to protect their master. Why are they suddenly becoming more...emotional?"

The Hokage crossed hims arms while leaning back in his large chair. "Maybe this is a sign of something good."

The woman before him raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And how have you come to this conclusion?" Her tone matched her expression.

"If they have learned fear from Naruto, then they can learn compassion. If all they knew is how to take life, maybe they can be taught how to save life."

Orochimaru sighed. "You seem to have too much faith in this child."

"And you do not seem to have enough." He retorted with a smirk. "Naruto says that he is in control and I have seen no evidence to suggest that he is lying to me. Until I see something of note, I will let him handle his own creations."

Lady Orochimaru continued to give the old man a skeptical look.

"Just have a little faith." He inhaled once again; tasting the sweet smoke that filled his mouth and lungs and giving him that calming feeling he always looked forward to after every hard day.


	16. Chapter 16

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 16**

* * *

Naruto coughed.

The next day started out like any other. The sun rose, birds chirped and people went about their usual morning routines. People went to work, opened their respective shops and businesses and proceeded to peddle as much to the people of the village as much as any potential visitors and tourists.

The ninja of the village were up and active just as much as the civilians. Either preparing/heading off on a mission, returning home, meeting with teammates, or training like our youthful protagonist.

Today was also the day of the Chunin Exam finals.

Naruto stood in the middle of his teams usual training grounds. He was the only one present with his guards hiding off somewhere within the trees.

He stood there silently staring at the field. He had not seen either of his teammates since the second phase of the Chunin Exam. He knew that they were busy training and preparing for their respective fights; but that did not mean he was any less lonely.

The boy tried to see if any of the other kids he had made friends with were available; but they too were helping their own respective teammates and did not have the time to spend with the young orphan.

Naruto coughed.

He didn't even have La-Rn to hang around since she appeared to have vanished after witnessing Lady Orochimaru's flirting. Naruto was kind of worried that she might be mad and what she might be planning in retaliation of him going along with the human female's lustful actions.

He just hoped that she would not do anything too outrageous.

It had been a long time since Naruto felt this alone; this isolated. Everyone else he knew was growing and progressing further and further towards their own goals and dreams. And here was, unable to even be a proper ninja without the risk of countless unnecessary deaths. All because of this damnable monstrosity sealed within him.

Sure, he could go on missions and defend his home; but only because he controlling the undead monsters around him. Otherwise he was barely more competent than any normal civilian.

Naruto clenched his fists tightly while glaring out at nothing in particular. Why was he incapable of being a real ninja? Why couldn't he perform even the most basic of techniques? Why was he always left so alone?

Naruto coughed.

He could hear his guards from their hiding places. Their grunts and chirps were of a confused and concerned nature. They could feel their master's pain, but where unable to understand it. They did not enjoy seeing their master hurt in a way that they were not able to help with.

As if to answer their need; the creatures noticed a familiar figure walking towards their master.

The figure stopped for a moment upon seeing the young boy standing in the center of the training area; his fists clenched tightly and his eyes dark.

"N-Naruto?" A voiced call from behind.

Naruto turned to see Hinata Hyuga standing a few feet away; the look of worry upon her face was instantly recognizable. One hand was held to the side while the other was held against her chest as a loose fist.

Naruto quickly gave the girl one of his bright smiles; failing terribly to hide the dead feeling he was just experiencing a moment ago.

"Hi Hinata!" He said cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

Hinata looked at the boy's false expression. A thought quickly welcomed itself within her mind. Now was the perfect chance to show that she cared for the boy. In more than just a 'please fill my ass with all of your love juice' kind of way.

"I w-was just passing coming back f-from my own training to g-go watch the Ch-chunin Exam Finals." She explained quietly.

That made sense; all the training grounds were connected in some way, so why wouldn't Hinata's team use the training ground separated by Naruto's own team training area?

The girl took a single step forward. "N-Naruto..." She paused trying to think of the best way to express her concern verbally. "A-Are you...I-Is some-." The poor girl was simply unable to think of anyway to ask without sounding either not truly concerned or dumb in her mind.

Her face became beet red and the young girl was forced to look down to hide her embarrassment.

"Are you ok?" She practically whispered. She half hoped that Naruto had not heard her; she even wished she had not taken this way back to the village. She could have avoided this whole awkward meeting.

"Yeah!" Naruto responded enthusiastically. "I'm great! Why you ask?"

Naruto coughed.

Naruto stammered a bit before collecting her thoughts. "W-well, you looked a little t-troubled is all and I just wanted to be sure you were ok." She said quickly.

Naruto looked at the girl for a moment. It was obvious that she had seen him just moments before; but there wasn't a chance in Hell that he was going to let her worry about him.

"I was just lost in thought." Naruto blatantly lied while continuing to flash his trademark grin.

Hinata did not believe his words for a moment but decided against pressing the issue any further. Instead she decided to completely change the subject. She started to gently poke the tips of her index fingers together nervously.

"U-um, would you like to walk with me to the Exam Finals?" She swore the words never actually left her mouth.

Naruto actually perked up upon hearing those words. His lonely thoughts were quickly replaced with the positive feelings of belonging as he looked at the sincere expression on the young Hyuga's face.

"Y-Yeah, sure!" Naruto agreed quickly; his mood instantly changing.

Hinata could not hide the small smile the crawled onto her pretty face as Naruto ran over to her.

"Let's go!" He said excitedly. "I can't wait to see all of awesome techniques that everyone has been practicing!"

Hinata's smile did not falter at the sound of Naruto's excitement. She was happy that he appeared to be over whatever issue had been plaguing him; even if she was still curious to what it was.

The two walked side-by-side through the village towards the large arena located near the village's business district.

As they walked, Naruto talked on and on about how great the fights they were about to witness were going to be and how he was going to master every single technique shown; no matter who performed them or how.

While most others would consider the blond brat's ramblings to be annoying; Hinata relished in the sound of his voice. The excitement and passion he expressed with every word filled the girl with her own levels of excitement.

She suddenly clutched her chest tightly and reflexively reached out for the nearest object to steady herself and grabbed Naruto's jacket sleeve as a massive spike of pain tore itself through her chest.

Naruto quickly grabbed the girl, acting a support as she gave a few whimpers of pain.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted. "Are you alright!?"

Naruto coughed.

The girl could only whimper slightly while tightening her grip. All Naruto could do was stand there in a slight panic.

After a moment or two, Hinata's body relaxed as the pain slowly vanished.

She looked up and saw Naruto's worried face very, very close to her own. Hinata blushed brilliantly and tried her best to fight the urge to look away from those oh so expressive blue eyes.

"Are you ok, Hinata?" Naruto asked in a surprisingly gentle tone that Hinata had never heard come from the boy's mouth. She loved that soft tone.

"I-I'm alright." She lied. "I guess I have not fully recovered from my match with my cousin." She mumbled.

Naruto frowned at her words. "He went too far when he did all that to you. I wish I was competing in the exam finals right now; just so that I could have an excuse to give him a pounding for what he did to you."

Hinata gave Naruto an unreadable look.

"Well, I mean it's just not fair for him to blame you for something that wasn't your fault. Right?" He gave the girl a somewhat questioning glance; as if to silently ask if his way of thinking was somehow wrong.

Hinata just gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Naruto." Her voice was soft, but genuine.

Naruto's face slowly grew into that same familiar smile that Hinata loved to see. "No problem."

After making sure that Hinata was really ok and that a trip to the hospital was not necessary, the two young ninja continued on their stroll towards the large arena that was to house the Chunin Exam Finals.

Upon arriving to the large circular structure, both flashed their village ninja ID's and went in towards the spectator's stands.

After a short walk up a flight or two of stairs, the young pair were greeted to the already packed stands that covered only a small quarter of the surrounding arena. It was only just recently that such exams and events were allowed to be observed by civilians; before only registered ninja were allowed to even enter the building; so the full construction of the spectating area was still underway with only what was currently available being complete.

The two looked around for a place to sit before noticing Hinata's teacher, Kurenai Yuhi sitting near the front row. Hinata went on a head and sat next to the older woman; Naruto continued to look for a place to sit only for Hinata to call him over.

Naruto did not really know that older woman and did not want to impose and force her to interact with him; since so very few people really ever wanted to. But Hinata's smile as well as offering him the very small amount of space next to her was all the boy needed to motivate him to come over and sit next to the young Hyuga.

Hinata gave a soft happy smile before turning to the older woman sitting on her other side and starting a conversation that Naruto ignored.

Naruto looked around at the people that were able to attend the exam finals. Most all were either politicians and their friends and family, or the upper class citizens that could afford the cost as well as have the time to come to such an event. Obviously, the families of those participating in the exams were also there to watch and cheer for their own ninja of choice.

Just above the regular stand was a pair of thrones of sorts meant for the Hokage and any invited guests, should the village leader decide to witness any events that the arena might hold. Currently, the old man along with who appeared to be the Kazekage, sat in both thrones and appeared to be talking about something that not any other soul could hear.

Despite Sasuke for some unknown reason not showing up, the matches started after a short speech from the Hokage. The speech was not much different from what one would expect. Promising young ninja representing their own efforts as well as their homes; nothing out of the usual.

The first fight was between Shikamaru Nara and the fan using kunoichi from Sunagakure, Temari. The fight was less of one composed of brilliant techniques and flashy moves, but of pure strategy and movement.

To Naruto, this was a battle of wit more than brawn. The fight lasted for minutes on end with neither landing a single finger on the other until the very end.

Naruto coughed.

To nearly everyone else; the sexual tension between the two combatants was suffocating. The reason behind the tension was completely unknown, but it was there for everyone to see.

As Hinata watched, a part of her secretly wished that the two fighting below would stop trying to one-up the other and instead go right into a good hard fuck-athon. To do something so lewd in front of so many people excited the girl to no end; watching or being a part of the action did not matter. Either worked for her.

She chanced a glance over at Naruto; who was completely focused on the match, and a lewd smile quickly formed on her face before she quickly remembered where she was and returned to watching the two fighters below.

The fight ended with Shikamaru declaring himself the loser and the confused and ticked off Temari as the winner. His lazy ass did not want to have to deal with the increase in number and danger of the missions he would be forced to do should he be promoted to Chunin.

Shikamaru then lazily walked back to the area where the exam finalists awaited their own match while Temari glared dagger's at the boy's back before slowly following soon after.

The next match was between Sakura and the female ninja from the Village Hidden within the Stone.

Both female fighters stood across from each other in the center of the arena; waiting patiently for the match to begin.

"So, we both know what the other is capable of." The girl from the foreign village stated. "Your strong, and I am fast."

"You should know that there is _always_ more to a girl." Sakura remarked as she cracked her knuckles.

The other girl slipped on her clawed gauntlets. "Your right." She then quickly gave Sakura a quick once over. "Well, for _most_ girls."

Sakura caught the double meaning and her eyebrow visibly twitched as her opponent stretched in such a way that her breasts appeared to be about ready to burst out from her outfit.

"I hope your not thinking your tits will save you from the beating your about to get." Sakura threatened.

"They may not help with my fighting, but I'm sure that I can use them to get anything else I could want."

What the girl meant was completely unknown to Sakura; not that many people found Rock Lee to be attractive. At least his face.

Sakura held back a slightly perverted giggle as she recalled training with the super strong boy and catching a glimpse or two at the tough musculature that the boy possessed. She was a sucker for heavy muscles.

"Begin!"

Naruto coughed.

The girl from the Stone Village dashed forward with her clawed gauntlets prepared to rip through Sakura's chest. The pink haired girl smirked before raising one of her legs up and bringing it down hard; shattering the Earth underneath like glass.

Her opponent barely stopped just in time to avoid having her head explode into a burst of pink mist. This little pink-haired bitch was not playing any games.

The Stone shinobi quickly leapt a safe distance away and instantly began to go through a series of hands signs as her opponent charged for her. With her last hand sign completed, the claws on her gauntlets began to glow a bright blew as visible blades of chakra formed around each blade and extended out several inches past the metal blades.

The girl raised her fist high into the air before slamming it down with the blades embedding themselves into the soft soil.

Sakura brought her fist forward and was just about to connect it with her opponent's face when a blade of chakra erupted right in front of it and protected it's creator.

A small column of smoke appeared at the point where Sakura's flesh met the chakra blade. Gritting her teeth, the pink-haired girl pulled her fist back and saw the burns on her knuckles.

She did not get long to inspect her wound as several more blades of chakra burst out from the ground and attempted to skewer the young ninja. Sakura dodged the attack while pulling something out from within one of the small pouches she wore around her waist.

The girl pulled out a small roll of bandages and began to quickly wrap them around her hands as the girl from the Stone village was busy pulling her gauntlet out from the Earth.

The girl from the Stone Village stood up and gave Sakura a cocky expression while motioning for the pink-haired girl to come at her.

Sakura knew better than to attack head-on now that those chakra-blades had come into play. But she lacked severely in ranged combat and had no real way besides throwing her weapons as a means of attack.

Sakura pulled out her shurikan and threw them all in several arcs aimed for her opponent while at the same time dashing forward towards the girl

Her opponent easily blocked the bladed weapons and prepared a nasty swipe at her charging enemy only for Sakura to suddenly dash to the side towards one of the very few trees inside of the arena.

The Stone ninja quickly gave chase and made an attempt to intercept Sakura before she could reach the tree; regardless of whatever her plan might be for the foliage.

Sakura ducked just as her opponent took a hard swipe at her, but continued to move towards the tree before quickly turning around and facing the other girl with both hands up and ready to brawl.

The two girls began to start fist-fighting. Both dodged or blocked the other's swings with neither giving the other any form of an advantage.

After a few seconds, Sakura was able to dodge a particularly nasty jab. Said fist slammed into the tree behind the pink-haired girl and forced the bladed gauntlet to become embedded within the wood.

Sakura tried to take advantage of the situation, but her opponent refused to give up and was able to fight off her off while struggling to get her arm free from the tree.

The pink-haired kunoichi quickly saw that she was unable to land a successful blow. Well, a blow that would not end with the other girl's brains splattered all over the floor. She wanted to win and beat the girl, not kill her.

So instead, Sakura dashed to the other side of the tree and firmly planted both of her feet onto the ground as she wrapped her arms around the plant. She crouched slightly before putting all of her strength into her legs and arms and began to pull upwards.

The tree gave a groan of protest but was unable to stop the super strong woman from tearing it out from the ground and hoisting it above her head; along with her opponent who was still stuck.

With a mighty swing, Sakura tossed the plant as hard as she could into the closest wall. The uprooted plant exploded into splinters while the Stone kunoichi smashed into the wall right after. She caught herself before hitting the ground and was able to duck just as Sakura threw a punch that went through the concrete wall.

The Stone shinobi took advantage of the situation and was able to stab Sakura right in the side with her blades; no chakra added this time.

Sakura clenched her teeth and fought down the pain while grabbing the offending arm and using her other fist to viciously beat her opponent's head several times before delivering a punch powerful enough to launch her away; tearing the bladed gauntlet free from it's victim.

Sakura held her bleeding side and quickly pulled out her bandages once against and wrapped them around her waist as best she could while a sudden eruption of chakra blades from below forced her to keep moving.

Her opponent was not looking much better, with the side of her head bleeding and one of her eyes bruised and forced to remain closed. Both knew that this fight needed to end, and fast.

The Stone shinobi decided to pull out all the stops and started to repeatedly slam both of her gauntlets into the ground to insure that a forest of blades was always erupting out of the ground in an attempt to impale the pink-haired bitch.

All Sakura could do was dodge as best she could. She was able to get out of the way of most of the attacks, but she did receive a nick or burn from several of the energy blades. She just needed to get in one decent hit in and she would have this fight in the bag; but the other girl simply was not going to let that happen

She had to think of something now!

Naruto coughed.

It was only a moment later did a though worm its way into her young mind. A thought that might just help her win this little fight.

Putting more force into her legs, Sakura launched herself as far back as possible before landing on the wall behind her, applying the appropriate amount if chakra, and sticking to the hard surface.

The Stone shinobi frowned as her target was now too far out fo range for her blades to reach and she was still unable to properly launch her blades through both horizontal and vertical structures at once.

Sakura went through her own series of hand signs while sticking to the wall. Soon, her own hands were surrounded by a visible aura of blue chakra.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." She whispered to herself before leaping straight up from the wall.

The Stone ninja tried to keep an eye on the other girl, but the sun made it impossible for her to see properly. She was unable to see Sakura pulling back her fist, and she was unable to see the pink-haired girl quickly descending towards her until it was too late.

The Stone shinobi was just barely able to get out of the way of the attack, but the shattering of the Earth was something she could not get away from.

The impact made the intact ground shatter like glass while exploding out several massive chunks of rock. An impossible number of smaller stones burst forth from the ground with such speed that they were impossible for even the most skilled shinobi to dodge.

Needless to say, Sakura's opponent was unable to dodge such an attack and was knocked clean out when a large rock smashed into the side of her head. She hit the ground hard and did not move as blood leaked from her head.

Only a moment passed before medical personal arrived and checked to see if the girl was alive before putting her on a stretcher and carrying her out of the building towards the hospital.

Sakura had won her fight.

She stood proudly for a split moment before the adrenaline finally passed away and the pain caused by both her injury and the strain she had put on herself during the fight finally hit her like a charging rhino.

The girl fell to her knees while clutching her still injured side; the blood finally bleeding through the bandage and was started to stain her clothing. The medics were already surrounding Sakura when her knees hit the ground.

They gentle ushered the young ninja onto a stretcher before hauling her off to the hospital.

Up in the stands, people either cheered or comparing with each other this fight and how they assumed the fight between the strange red-headed Sand village boy and the last living Uchiha will be like.

Naruto was impressed and amazed at Sakura's display of power. He knew she was strong, possible one of the physically strongest people in the world; as far as he knew. The fact that she was able to reshape most of the arena by herself in just a few minutes was enough to confirm the power that girl held.

Hinata watched the boy next to her almost as much as she watched the fight. His perfect blue eyes were so fixated on the fight and were filled with such excitement and wonder that it made the young Hyuga wish she were down there fighting just to have those eyes watching her instead of the pink-haired shinobi.

She desired to be that strong just so that the boy sitting next to her would never take his eyes away from her. That those amazing eyes would start to undress the girl and make her feel vulnerable and naked and completely at his will. To have him suddenly stand before her and force her to her knees right in the middle of a busy street; whip his semi-hard cock out and force her to suck it down as the crowd watches.

Hinata could not hide her perverted expression as her imagination ran wild. Why was it that just looking at her love caused Hinata to almost loose all rational thought. Sure, she had a few perverted thoughts and lewd fantasies every now and then; but recently the young girl has come close to forcing herself upon the boy just to show him her love.

That is not to say Hinata did not enjoy the sudden swell of love and desire that had nearly taken her over at least a dozen times; it was simply a little irritating and distracting when she really needed to do literally anything else. But the orgasms she gives herself during those periods of obsession more than made up for any short comings that they provided.

Unfortunately, here and now was not a good time. She tried her best to focus on the fights that happened below, but she just could not get Naruto out of her lewd mind.

Hinata gripped the him of her jacket tightly as the moisture in between her legs grew more and more. Her legs started to shake and she had bite down hard on her bottom lip to prevent a needy whine from escaping her mouth.

She clenched her eyes shit tightly and tried to think of anything else to help calm down her arousal; but nothing worked. No matter what she tried to distract herself with, Hinata's mind instantly went back to Naruto.

His scent filled her nose and made her desire to be wrapped up in the bed sheets she knew was soaked in that familiar smell.

Naruto coughed.

He was sitting close enough that all Hinata had to do was move her leg slightly so that she was now touching him; and the feeling was simply euphoric. Even through both of there clothing, the girl could feel his warmth and could not want anything more than to be surrounded by his arms as he pressed down upon her.

To feel his hot breath on her ear as he explained all the perverse things he had planned for her.

Hinata shook her head. She had to get a hold of herself!

She looked forward and saw it. What looked to be a purple misshapen...thing stood on the roof of the arena exact opposite of the stands. Hinata tried to focus on the strange thing, but every time she tried to do so, she found her eyes suddenly loosing focus or veering away from the distortion.

When she did look at it, however, Hinata felt something. She felt like her feeling were spreading. Her love and excitement over the oblivious boy next to her was not just her own anymore. She felt like she was sharing it. Like her very emotions were no longer hers alone.

Now, she did not feel like she was loosing her emotions or that her feelings were being stolen away; sharing was simply the best word to describe what it felt like.

She should have been upset; she should have felt angry. But Hinata did not.

She felt, like nothing was wrong. It was perfectly normal and ok for this thing to be feeling what she felt. She was willingly sharing her joy, sadness, anger, and love with this otherworldly creature.

When she was happy, it was overjoyed. When she was sad, it would be mournful. There really was no issue that Hinata could see with this thing feeling what she felt.

That is, until Hinata realized that her current state of arousal was actually caused by the strange thing. She could feel it staring at Naruto; pining for him just the same as she did.

It was not just her arousal she was feeling, but the arousal of the other thing as well. Every time Hinata almost lost her mind was because of that thing. Every twitch and ache was because she was feeling that monster's own lust for her Naruto.

And she liked it.

Hinata was surprised at the positive feeling she had towards the very knowledge that her lust was being amplified by this misshapen thing.

She always wanted to love Naruto as much as possible; and she was now given that opportunity by feeling not just her own love for the boy, but this creature's love for him as well.

This thing was just an extension of her own love for Naruto taken form. It was as much her as she was it.

Naruto could see La-Rn standing upon the roof opposite of the stands; but for some reason she was looking more at Hinata than the boy himself.

Her tentacles waved about gently as her gaze remained unflinching. Hinata was exactly the same; staring back at La-Rn with a transfixed glare.

Naruto looked back and forth between the two. Could Hinata see the monster? Was she being driven insane by it's impossible form?

"Um...Hinata?" Naruto said quietly; the girl did not show any sign of hearing the boy.

"Hinata?" Naruto said louder; again, the Hyuuga showed no interest in turning away from La-Rn.

"Hinata?!" Naruto said louder.

Hinata blinked a few times before turning to face Naruto.

"Yes, Naruto?" She asked in all honesty. She opened her eyes and Naruto nearly fell back out of his seat.

The girl's eyes had changed. Their once purple, pupil-less appearance had changed to become completely pink with even darker pink heart-shaped pupils now filling the very center of her eyes.

"What is the matter?" She asked.

Naruto could only gawk at the girl's sudden eye change. He tried to talk, but he was only able to open and close his mouth clumsily.

"Is something wrong? What is with all the shouting, Naruto?" Kurenai asked. With Hinata's head being turned away from the older woman, the red-eyed ninja was unable to see her student's physical change.

Naruto looked up at the older woman with the same bewildered expression.

Naruto coughed.

A sudden hand on his knees drew Naruto's attention back to Hinata.

"Please, tell me if something is bothering you." Her voice was practically pleading is tone. Her voice was heavy and Naruto could swear he saw steam come out of her mouth as she spoke.

Naruto leaned back; surprised at the girl's sudden forwardness. Hinata was not usually this...heated. Naruto stole a quick glance at La-Rn. Just what happened when the two stared at each other?

"Hinata? Are you ok?" Kurenai asked her student; confused by the sudden change in her usual behavior.

Before the girl could respond, her cousin and the remaining ninja from the Stone village walked out onto the arena below and went to their respective sides.

"The match is about to begin." Hinata stated, her eyes returning to normal as she focused forward. Kurenai gave her student an inquisitive look before resigning in trying to get any information out of her and focusing on soon-to-be fighters.

Naruto instantly forgot all about Hinata's unusual change in behavior and instantly focused on the upcoming fight.

Things were about to get interesting.


	17. Chapter 17

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 17**

* * *

Naruto coughed.

The crowd was silent as Neji Hyuuga and the shinobi from the Village Hidden By The Stone squared off. Neji's expression and stance showed complete and total serious dedication to winning this bout; while his opponent stood straight with a smug expression.

"Bet your wondering who I really am." The Stone shinobi said smugly. Neji showed no change in expression.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway. Just so you know what your _really_ up against." The young teenager started to boast.

"I am Ten; the son of the Tsuchikage and the next leader of the most powerful village in the entire Elemental Nations." He bragged. "And the soon to be ruler of the entire nation as a whole."

Again, Neji did not respond.

"Ugh." Ten scoffed. "You Hyuuga are such a bore. Using those cheap eyes of yours and dainty little pokes." He shrugged. "When I eventually rule I'll be sure at leas include one of your girls in my little harem."

Neji's eyes narrowed. His opponent had a massive ego, appeared to be very self centered, and terribly overconfident; all together making a perfect combination of a usually dangerous enemy, if not one that had glaring weak spots that one could effortlessly exploit.

However, the young prodigy was more upset over what his opponent had said about his clan. Yes, Neji was resentful towards the main branch of the Hyuuga clan; yes, he was still upset over what they did to his father. But Neji was still a proud member of the Hyuuga clan and he was not about to let some egotistical whelp besmirch that proud name.

He was going to teach this pompous ass exactly why the Hyuuga clan was the most powerful and feared clan in the Land of Fire.

"I think I'll hand pick at least one from every single clan this village has." Ten said while striking a thinking pose. "It only stands to reason that I take only the best brides from each. Wouldn't want to have any weak children."

Again, Neji refused to speak. He would not honor this vulgar ninja with even the smallest amount of dialogue.

Ten looked up at the stands and gazed upon the crowd. "So simple-minded; so completely unaware that I will soon rule them all. It's really a shame that they are all so much more interested in seeing some lesser clan shinobi fight a creepy kid as apposed to witnessing my glory and an easily won fight."

Naruto coughed.

Ten glanced at Neji before smirking nastily. "Don't worry, I'll _try_ to make it as quick and painless as possible."

"Begin!"

Neji started by quickly dashing forward towards his opponent. He would be the first to admit that he was less skilled in ranged combat than hand-to-hand and his family's fighting style was sure to show.

Ten just watched with an amused expression as Neji bolted straight for him.

Just before his opponent reached him, Ten formed his right hand into a seal and stomped his right foot, causing a large pillar of stone to erupt right in front of him and nearly slam into Neji.

The young Hyuuga quickly side-stepped the pillar and once again closed the distance between him and his enemy.

Ten quirked an eyebrow before once again stamping his foot, forcing another stone pillar to burst forth from the ground; this time directly underneath Neji.

Neji was stunned but quickly recovered and used the pillar as a platform to launch himself into the air while pulling out the few kunai he actually carried and tossing them straight down towards his target.

Ten looked up with the same amused expression as a smaller pillar burst forth from the first one and blocked the sharp weapons from reaching their intended target.

"My defense may not be as impenetrable as that red-headed sand boy; but your going to have a Hell of a time even getting close to me."

Several spikes formed out of each of the pillars and launched themselves straight for Neji.

They Hyuga's eyes narrowed as he focused on each of the incoming projectiles and proceeded to either dodge or deflect each and every one of them. Such a task would have been impossible without his family's all seeing eyes and the years of hard training he has had to endure.

Just as Neji landed, several smaller pillars of stone burst forth from the ground and attempted to crush the ninja between themselves. Said target easily dodged the attack only for more to start coming from the Earth just as quickly as he could move. There was not a single moment where Neji was not forced to stay moving, lest he be crushed by constantly appearing pillars of stone or wallowed up by sudden fissures in the ground.

There was no way for Neji to get even remotely close to his target. How was he going to land a hit let alone win this fight? He was the prodigy of the Hyuga clan, he was destined to win this fight and climb the ranks faster than any anyone else within his age group. He _must_ win this fight.

Hinata observed the fight with a completely transfixed gaze. Her previous thoughts and actions were now completely gone from her mind; only watching every single move her talented cousin was all that remained. A chance to see what he could really do, what the prodigy of the Hyuga clan, could really do was a rare sight for anyone; including family.

Her eyes focused on every single muscle twitch the boy made while her brain focused on memorizing every little movement. Committing every last one of his actions to memory so that she herself could use this knowledge to improve her own method of combat and show everyone what she was capable of.

Naruto was focused on the fight as well, but nearly as much as Hinata. He was watching just to see what the differences were between Hinata's and Neji's fighting style was while a small part of his mind began to wonder what form a Hyuga would take if he were to turn one of them into another of his undead creations.

The thought of adding members of the many clans to his growing army was not anything new; but actually getting any corpses from any one clan was nearly impossible since nearly every single one was sealed away within the deepest parts of the mountain that the faces of the past Hokage had been carved onto.

Maybe if another war were to start he would be allowed to empty that hallowed ground of every potential soldier.

Naruto coughed.

The boy brought a hand up to his mouth as he continued to cough. He had been doing it all day and it had now gotten to a point where he was now beginning to have a nasty coughing fit.

He leaned forward and grabbed the back of the seat in front of him for support as he continued to cough harder and harder.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked with worry.

The boy did not hear her as he continued to cough and wheeze. The had he was using to cover his mouth moved down to grasp at his chest as his eyes widened.

He tried to gulp down as much air as possible only to find that he was completely unable to. He could feel the air going into his mouth and throat, but his chest would never expand except to allow him to violently cough.

Seeing the boy's coughing become violent and out of control; Hinata reached over and tried to steady him as he leaned so far over he nearly fell out of his seat.

Those sitting around them quickly backed away; knowing that _anything_ involving the boy was never good.

Eventually the coughing became too much for the boy and he fell out of his seat and began to violently claw at hit chest..

"Naruto!" Hinata shouted as she quickly went over to him and tried to stop him from tearing apart his clothes.

She cursed her family's eyes for being unable to truly see the inner workings of another person. Sure, she could see through most solid object and clothes and the like; but her family bloodline was geared more towards seeing the chakra point and flow of a target and not the actual organs and inner structure.

The girl quickly grasped Naruto's clawing hands and forced them away from his chest and was barely able to hold him as he flailed; coughing and hacking all the while.

Kurenai was already kneeling next to the boy and trying to help as well; doing her best to hold the boy still so that he would not hurt himself or her student with his wild flailing.

"What are you people doing?!" The older ninja shouted out to the crowd. "Go get help!"

Her order was completely unnecessary as the same two medical staff that had taken away Sakura's opponent had just arrived.

"Come on." One of them said gently. "Try to stand just a bit. We need to get you over to the stretcher." It was simply not possible to get the boy on one while on the stairs.

The two medics gently moved Hinata out of the way before getting down and attempting to support the coughing and thrashing youth on their shoulders.

They were just able to get the boy to stand when, 'THWIK', the sound of something zooming through the air and hitting a soft target reached their ears.

Naruto had completely stopped his hacking and coughing and now stood with his back slightly arched backwards, eyes and mouth both as wide open as possible with an expression of complete fear and pain spread across his young face.

He slowly turned his head and could see the feathered tail of an arrow sticking out of his rotten back, His touch necrotic flesh prevented the projectile from digging in too deep, but it was still enough that the pain ripped through him; as if it had hit brand new flesh. Naruto fell to his knees as the medical staff were too stunned to remember to carry the lad.

Naruto could see the person that had decided it necessary to attack the struggling boy. It was a ninja of the Village Hidden among the Stone. In his hands was a specially designed boy that allowed for the notching, aiming, and firing of two arrows at once.

Naruto's eyes quickly glanced over to see if Hinata was alright and could see the girl's shocked and fearful expression. He was pleased to see that the other arrow had missed the girl and instead had landed harmlessly on the stairs nearby.

Both arrows were firmly lodged into his shoulders and this could mean nothing good.

"What a complete and utter fool." Ten mumbled before risking a glance up at where to the two village leaders sat.

His and the Kazekage's eyes met for a moment before the older man quickly drew out a blade made of hardened black sand and attempted to slice through the Hokage.

"What is the meaning of this!?" The Hokage shouted as one of his guards blocked the attack.

"The time of Konohagakure's rule is over!" The Kazekage shouted. "No longer with you think you can police the world and control what country gets how many riches!" He quickly shoved away the guard. "You tried to bully us into signing that worthless scrap of paper you call a treaty by sending that freak of a child and his little puppets; but no more! Today you and this village will fall and the Lands of the Earth will take over. The very Earth that all life depends on should be the will of the world!"

The Hokage leapt back. "I can not allow you to threaten my home." He said with a surprisingly calm tone of voice. "I will give you this one chance to stand down and discuss your issues diplomatically; otherwise I can promise you that any army that you decided to bring, will die."

"You think your village's might alone can compare to the combined forces of the lands of Earth?" The Kazekage asked incredulously. "So not only do you think you can rule over the nations, you are so boastful as to think that your pitiful village can defeat them all?"

The Hokage gave a sigh. "I say once again; cease this doomed attack and allow for peaceful negotiation, or die."

"You still think you will win against a combined army?" The man laughed. "Do you know what I'm going to do with this wretched little hole? I'm going to hand it right over to the Tsuchikage's son just give him a little head start on his little dream; just because I'm a leader that actually **helps** his allies."

"No." The Hokage stated bluntly while standing straight and tall. "I will not lift a single finger to strike you or any of your men. I refuse to respond to such childish actions. But he will. That boy there will be the one to defeat you and show just how doomed this invasion of yours truly is." He pointed straight for Naruto who was already hunched over and gritting his teeth as his own flesh began to push out the arrow in his shoulder.

"That boy? You let a mere child lead your armies?"

"One." The Hokage retorted quickly. "He leads one of my armies. And it is the only one I will need to quash your attack on my home. I am giving you one final chance to step down or risk losing every single person you send through my gates."

Without a moment's hesitation, the Kazekage pulled out a kunai with a red tag tied to the handle and tossed it high into the air. The instant the weapon left the man's hand, the tag began to smoke a dark red cloud that trailed behind the flying weapon before the blade itself exploded into a large red plumb.

"May this war begin!"

"It is already over." Sarutobi stated solemnly before suddenly raising his voice. "Uzumaki Naruto; Genin of the Village Hidden within the Leaves!" He shouted with a voice that held all the authority his seat held.

"I, as the current Hokage of this village, hereby order you to release control over every unit under you and to order them to attack all wearing the enemy's symbol." He paused for the smallest moment. "And to protect every last citizen of this village." His voice boomed.

Naruto could only grunt in response as a large rotten nob of flesh formed out from the hole the arrow had made in his shoulder. The nob grew and grew until it could be identified as a terribly emaciated and necrotic elbow.

Naruto could feel the appendage being formed from his own flesh and bone. Part of him were being used and quickly replaced to create a biologic preventative against any potential future injure; and it hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. Every cell screamed in agony as each and every one was taken over by death and forcibly twisted and reshaped into completely different forms.

The newly developed limp quickly ripped itself free from it's fleshy bindings in a brilliant shower of blood and gore; revealing itself to be an incredibly thin arm tipped with a massive scythe-like blade, not unlike those that Naruto's most basic of creations often wielded.

Naruto screamed in pure agony as the bladed limp tore itself out from his back and forcibly attached itself to his very nervous system; giving him complete control over the new appendage.

The explosion of blood was enough to cover not only the medics that had held him, but several other people that had been nearby; including Hinata. Those that were not accustomed to seeing so much of the life giving fluid started to panic while the rest were more concerned about Naruto's new change.

"Naruto?" Hinata almost whispered; she had yet to clean the blood off herself. "Are you alright?"

* * *

Mizuki.

That was once it's name. Back when it's very existence held no worth. To have even called it a simple pawn back then would have been too gracious a title.

It remembered it's name. It remembered it's past life. Every joy and every sorrow. Yet, it did not care. Such memories were useless and a waste of it's time and energy. It had new memories. New thoughts. A new purpose.

It had been tasked with the glorious order to defend it's master's home from any and all unwanted intruders; even when it's beloved master was injured and seeking aid, it was to remain within the small home and keep guard.

But things had changed. New thought had begun to enter it's rotten mind.

A yellow light flickered into existence behind empty eye sockets.

The creature let out a low groan as it began to tear itself away from the wall of rotten flesh that it had attached itself to. It had a feeling that it was needed and that to protect it's master and home it would need to change.

Something told it that it needed to merge with the fleshy structure. And so it had.

It allowed it's body to be consumed by the mass. Consumed and devoured before being altered so as to better protect it's master.

The creature fell to it's knees upon freeing itself and quickly rose up on it's two strong legs. It knew what it now appeared as.

An evolved guardian for it's master. A slayer of all that would dare to harm him. A nightmare to all of his foes. A Hunter.

The creature's entire bottom jaw was gone having been reformed and added to thicken it's already thick neck. It's extra arms had been completely absorbed into it's strong torso with it's bladed-arms now moved to the very top of it's shoulders instead of behind them. That and it's longer, stronger legs and much more darkened and rotten appearance were the only real obvious changes to the beast.

It made its way over to the door of it's master's home and with a hard slam of it's shoulder, tore the wooden barricade down. It needed to find it's master.

Yes, the twins were magnificent guards, but they were meant to defend his master; not punish those foolish enough to attack him.

The Hunter paused for a moment before reaching the ground floor. Something had just happened to his master. Something had just **hurt** his master.

The creature's eyes flashed yellow. Now it was to punish the one that had dared to damage it's creator.

It moved at a steady yet quick pass; being unable to run but quick enough to easily catch up to the average jogging human.

After shoving making its way through the village; shoving aside any and all worthless living flesh aside, the Hunter had finally arrived to the location where it's prey stood.

The creature could see the many many vulnerable areas it's prey was covered in, but lacked the ability to actually reach it. It turned to make it's way into the large arena before halting in it's movement.

A feeling of what could only be described as overwhelming joy suddenly washed over it and every single one of it's kind.

* * *

Naruto slowly made his way to his feet while turning in the direction of his attacker; his teeth clenched hard.

How _dare_ this lowly sake of flesh attack him! Him; the voice of an impossible being! Not only was it a direct attack on him; but it was a cowardly strike from behind! A pathetic move.

These thoughts and more were forced into Naruto's mind as he could practically feel the tendrils of his inner monster ripping and tearing at his mind. It knew what the Hokage ordered and it wanted the slaughter to commence immediately. And the best way to get the feast started was by manipulating it's already cracked host.

Naruto tried to fight the urge to just let his creations run loose. To prevent them fro slaughtering indiscriminately, but the claws of twisted thinking tearing at every fiber of his mind made it nearly impossible.

But he had to control it. He could not allow his home to vanish by his own hands. He had this amazing power. He needed to control it. Or at the very least direct it.

That was when he heard the Hokage's orders and a sense of relief washed over him. He could satisfy his God while also protecting his home. All of his sudden anger was washed away as he gave a light sigh and leaned his head back with his eyes closed.

He opened them to reveal blackened eyes with nothing more than yellow pin-pricks.

 **"Slaughter."** His voice was nothing but a whisper; but the word echoed through the heart of every single living thing within the walls of the village.

There was going to be no war. Only a nightmare.

But, nothing happened besides Naruto's eyes returning to normal and him stumbling a bit only to be quickly caught by both Hinata and Kurenai.

Everyone stood around, waiting, but nothing happened. The combined invading forces of both enemy villages easily entered the village and started to do battle with Leaf Village shinobi.

Without even speaking a word, the Hokage ordered every available shinobi to gather the civilian populace and to escort every last villager to the relative safety of the Hokage Mountain.

They were quick and efficient; but the invading force was still too quick and it quickly become difficult to provide any form of safety to the villagers.

Yet, not a single villager perished as was requested by the Tsuchikage's son. What would be the point in taking over an enemy village if there were no people to rule over?

It was only when one of the invading ninja slipped up that the blood bath began. It was nothing really, he just landed a centimeter too far West when landing on one of the village's many rooftops. It was just barely enough for him to slightly stumble just a tad to get a proper footing.

It began when a bladed arm come up from over the side of the building; impaled the man's hip and yanked him off of the roof into a frenzy of gnashing fangs and slashing claws below.

The streets were quickly filled with the many monstrosities that Naruto had created. All roaring and snarling in a terrifying display of joy as they killed every last person that did not smell of their home.

Not a single one was spared as they moved like a wave; working their way outwards from the inner most parts of the village.

Naruto could hear every scream and cry of agony that his monsters pulled from their victims' throats.

"Finally." Ten sighed before quickly forming two massive walls of stone and attempting to crush Neji in between them. The Hyuuga leapt back away from the attack; giving Ten enough time to quickly turn just enough to see Gaara.

"It's about time you went to sleep." He went through an elaborate series of hand seals before finally coming to a halt and making a crushing motion towards the red-headed youth with his right hand.

Gaara's eyes widened as he suddenly felt his throat tighten and all air stopped flowing into his lungs. Not long after did darkness overtake him.

"Shit." Kankuro swore as he and his sister quickly leapt as far away from their now unconscious sibling; knowing that there was nothing that either of them could do except assist in the invasion from a much further away location.

The instant his eyelids closed and explosion of sand burst forth from every part of him with enough force to destroy the section of wall that Gaara previously stood on.

In mere moments, the sand had twisted and grown to the size of a mountain and had quickly taken on the form of a monstrous raccoon-dog. The creature's eyes flashed brightly before a massive roar escaped it's titanic jaws.

"Hey!" Ten shouted. "Can you hear me up there?" He waved his arm to try and get the monster's attention. The beast looked down at the tiny human.

"I have released you from your prison to destroy this village that makes a mockery of your very home!" The boy shouted. "Have fun!"

The creature barely heard him.

 **"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally!"** It screamed at the top of it's lungs. **"It has been so long since I got to cause some mayhem."** It looked around at the village it stood in the middle of. **"I'm gonna' have one Hell of a time."** It swung it's arm and a massive wave of wind tore away the entire side out of the arena as well as several of the surrounding buildings before stomping off to crush everything in it's path.

The monster glanced down at the person that released it. **"Your comin' with me. I'll need someone to make sure that brat doesn't wake up before I've finished having my fun."**

Ten was more than happy to agree and made his way up to the top of Shukaku's head near the comatose Gaara.

* * *

"They have one of **those**?!" Naruto could hear a fellow shinobi lament. "We are fucked!"

Without saying a word, Naruto leapt away from the stands and began to follow the path of destruction that the towering beast had left behind. Hinata and Kurenai quickly followed only for the sudden appearance of both Sasuke and Kakashi to force them to come to a screeching halt.

Naruto could feel his God's excitement. Another large mass of flesh to help make it's body. If it were to combine that with all the corpses present and currently being made, then it would be able to begin the true formation of it's perfect body. It ushered it's holy emissary on with words of excitement and urgency.

Kill the massive beast and allow it's core to form from it. Let it feed upon the death that now plagued the land.

Naruto did not show any sign of even acknowledging his inner monster's desires and dimply continued to race towards the rampaging beast destroying his home.

He ran past the ninja fighting one another and his beasts without even batting an eye in their general direction. He had to protect his home. It was all he had.

It a short while a small platoon of Stalkers began to follow their master, being the only one of their kind fast enough to keep up with him. They would occasionally run ahead of their master just to cut down whomever was foolish enough to stand in his way.

It did not take the boy long to finally reach the terrifying monster, with his followers all giving cries of joy at the opportunity to slay such a massive target.

"So what do you plan on doing?" A voice from behind drew Naruto's attention away from the destructive Shukaku.

Naruto turned to see Kakashi standing behind him. His headband up revealing his gifted Sharingan eye.

"Nice arm by the way." He said offhandedly.

Naruto just looked at Kakashi.

"You ran all the way here so you must have a plan of some sort. Or were you just hoping to cover that thing in your demons?" He crossed his arms. "And here I thought you'd have learned a thing or two from me."

 **"You got something inside of you, don't you?"** Sensing a power nearby, Shukaku had turned to see the only two humans not engaged in deadly combat. **"Don't know how I didn't notice you earlier, but oh well."** He began to reach down towards the boy that had the strange power sealed inside. The adult human quickly leapt away from the massive sandy appendage. **"Maybe if I eat you I'll have enough strength to knock around that egotistical ass of a Nine-Tail."**

Naruto watched as the gigantic hand came down towards him; his face showing no real emotion.

Just as the limp nearly reached him several massive tentacles of bone and gore ripped out from beneath the Earth and slammed into the appendage with enough force to nearly topple the beast.

 **"What the!?"** The creature shouted as it tried to regain it's balance.

Naruto leapt onto one the massive appendages and used it as a spring-board to launch himself right for the ninja standing on top of Shukaku's head.

The demon let out a powerful roar that sent Naruto sprawling backwards only to be caught by one of the tentacles before his soft body could meet the hard ground.

That was an attack.

An attack on their master!

The ground beneath both the boy and the beast began to shake as massive cracks and fissures began to tear apart the roads and buildings.

* * *

Elsewhere within the village, word had spread to the stone and sand shinobi of how to take down the undead nightmares once and for all.

The method had been discovered by accident when one of the invaders panicked and activated a vicious wind-based technique that cut apart not only the attacking beasts, but several of his own men as well.

Seeing that none of the severed parts moved anymore forced the man to come to realization that there was at least one way to permanently end these wretched monsters; cutting them apart.

He was quick to inform every single one of his remaining comrades; quickly shifting the tide of battle as more of the monsters started to expire after being cut apart to the point of complete uselessness.

Knowing that their weakness was now being used against them; the undead creatures began to fall back slightly. Using more hit-and-run and ambushing techniques as opposed to the full-frontal assault that they were used to. Only a minor inconvenience at best, yet several of the invading force were able to push past them and make their way to the monument dedicated to the past Hokage of the village.

Inside said mountain was considered the safest place for all civilians and non-combatants of the village should something like this were to ever occur. It was also the resting place for many of the village's past nobles, clansmen, and shinobi that had performed tremendous acts for the village; all sealed within special coffins of course.

"Is everyone alright?" Iruka asked the students under his care. There were a few close calls on the way to the monument, but Naruto's undead creations fought back and slaughtered any would be attackers before harm could fall to the children.

The murmurs and occasional whimper from his students was all he needed to hear to calm his worried mind. These were his students after all and he would be damned if he would let any harm come to them.

"Well, well." A chilling voice spoke from near the entrance to the sanctuary. "Look-y at we got here."

Iruka's blood ran cold as he turned to see a pair of ninja from the Village Hidden Within the Sand leaning against the wall staring right at him and his students.

Iruka faced the pair and drew a kunai form one of his pockets. He knew he was outclassed by the two but he was not about to let them near his kids. No matter what sacrifices he must make!


	18. Chapter 18

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 18**

* * *

Iruka stood in between the two enemy shinobi from the Village Hidden By the Sand panting heavily. The two had decided to take turns attacking the school teacher and did not bother to show their delight in torturing the man in front of the children.

Iruka had been assigned a much younger class than usual this semester. Too young to even wield a weapon properly and thus incapable of helping the man fight this enemy. There was nothing they could do.

"Your turn." One of the Sand shinobi said to the other.

The one spoken to smirked before vanishing in a whirlwind of sand and suddenly reappearing behind Iruka with his weapon poised to strike. Iruka turned just in time to intercept the attack only to feel the presence of the other shinobi directly behind him.

"I'm starting to get bored." The man poked the very tip of his kunai against Iruka's back. "Why don't I just end this now so that we can play with the kids next?"

His comrade looked at him for a moment with a smirk before quickly changing to an irritated scowl. "Shit." He swore before pushing Iruka away and leaping back slightly.

"Looks like we missed one on the way here." He muttered while pointing at the entrance to the cave with his weapon.

He ally turned and saw the monster standing there; it was at least a head or two taller than the usual monsters that they have been cutting apart.

"Big deal." The second shinobi said while going through a few hand seals. His hands came to a halt, the man opened his mouth and a blizzard of cutting winds flowed out towards the creature.

The beast took a single step forward before the winds tore at it's rotten flesh. The creature's head and arms were torn completely away from the body; allowing the dried blood to burst forth in a nasty red cloud.

"I can't believe so many of us died to these pathetic creatures." The man mused as he put his hands down. He moved to turn back to his comrade when he noticed the creature take a step forward.

"Looks like I did not do enough." He began to go through the hand seals once again only to be forced into a quick retreat when the one-armed corpse lunched for him with a wicked slice.

The man finished the hand motions required and let loose another wave of vicious winds that succeeded in tearing the creature completely apart. Each piece of it hitting the ground and halting all motion.

It was unable to kill anymore, so what was the point in continuing to move? It would go into a dormant state until it's parts could be collected and used in the creation of a new slaughterer.

As it's torn pieces fell, a strangled gurgling sound erupted from the neck and echoed throughout the cave. A warning, or a cry of fear; no one was sure.

"Well," the man turned back to Iruka; who was still struggling against the other Sand shinobi. "Back to business." He pulled out a kunai. "Why don't you hold him for me so that I can play a little bit?"

His ally shot the man a glare. "And why should I do that for you?"

"Don't give me that." He snarked back while approaching the struggling Iruka. "I'll let you have a turn as soon as I'm done. I promise I won't break him too badly."

His friend quickly maneuvered in such a way that he now had Iruka completely restrained.

"What what we are going to do to your teacher very closely kids." He snarled. "This is what happens to all ninja foolish enough to work for this hole of a town."

He chuckled before suddenly coming to a halt just a step or two away from the pair. He stared forward for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh; and noticed that his breath had become visible.

He glanced over for a slight moment and noticed the children starting to shiver and huddle together, but not out of fear.

It was cold.

Very cold.

A strangulated breathing could be heard approaching the entrance to the cave.

"Oh come on." One complained. "Not another one."

Before the creature could be seen, the entire cave began to shake violently and with enough force for several cracks to start forming along the floor and walls.

* * *

"Come on!" Tsume Inuzuka shouted as she and a pack of her best trained canines fought against the invading forces. "Show them the ferocity that the Inuzuka unleash on those that try to take our territory!" Her clan mates and their own companions were doing all they could to keep the enemy out of their home.

It was strange, yet somehow very familiar, working alongside the undead and twisted forms of what were once possible friends; their feature's too distorted and misshapen to properly tell.

The most disturbing were the resurrected child soldiers fighting right beside her. Whether it was Naruto himself or the entity inside him; one or the other had a horrifying idea for the small corpses, and had unfortunately appeared to have taken some ideas from the Inuzuka hounds.

Their bodies were left relatively intact with the only changes being the gray rotting flesh, increased muscle mass, and the three large claws on each hand. Oh, and the fact that their eyes were now completely sealed shut, the skin around their nose and mouth was completely missing, and their teeth had become misshapen needles.

Besides that they looked like completely normal children.

Unlike most of the other undead creatures, however, they worked together with other's of their kind in large groups. Like a Pack of wild dogs.

Tsume did not know if she should be proud or terrified at the thought of them being based on her family.

The worst part, however, was the sound that each one of those little imps made. A constant scream that sounded way too similar to a scared and distraught child. A constant choirs of crying that made the canine leading mother's heart wrench with an instinctive drive to help the monsters.

Deep down, Tsume knew that was how they would lure their victims too. There was not a shadow of a doubt that if they were not on the same side, she would have gotten herself killed possibly being lead into an ambush by that accursed crying.

"Milady!" A young clanmate shouted over all of the chaos. "The enemy is closing in on your estate. Too many of our comrades have fallen to offer enough resistance! Even the undead are unable to stop them completely!"

Tsume snarled at the underling. "Keep fighting until your final breath! Give them everything you've got and show them why we are the hounds of this village! This is **our** territory and we refuse to concede it to any invaders!"

The ground began to suddenly shake beneath Tsume with enough force to nearly make the woman loose her balance and trip over her own feet. An embarrassing action that should never befall a woman with her social standing and power.

"Milady!" The same clan member from just a moment ago shouted; his face pale as the harvest moon. He tried to continue and explain what he had just witnessed, but his mouth could no longer create words, only open and close stupidly. All he could do was point in the direction of the great Shukaku's back.

Tsume frowned at the timidity of her family member and made a quick note to punish him for such a stupid display later. Weakness of any kind was not tolerated within her family. The Inuzuka faced all challenges with a pride and ferocity that had earned them their clanhood as well as the worldly reputation as the determined dogs of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. To show fear, no matter what may have caused the feeling, was never tolerated.

The woman was completely unaware that she herself was about to break that very sacred rule.

Tsume gave a snarl towards her underling and made a quick dash to circle around just enough to see past the massive beast. It took the woman a lot more time than she had anticipated to just walk enough to see past Shukaku's massive bulk and tremendous tail.

She was able to see...something but she was just not completely sure yet as to what it was.

Her entire body locked up upon finally seeing what had caused the great Raccon-Dog to stop in it's own tracks. Just like the subbordinate that had tried to warn her; Tsume was now at a loss for words and could feel the blood drain from her face.

The leader of the Inuzuka family could feel her legs become weak and nearly collapse under their own wait. She was forced to reach over to the nearest wall just to stabilize herself as she witnessed Shukaku engage in a pitched battle against the entity that stood before it.

* * *

Hinata struck her opponent with her open palm, using all the force she could. A visible explosion of chakra burst from the man's back; along with most of his spine and rib cage. Bits of bone and gore flew threw the air before slamming into the nearest surface.

The man was alive just long enough to realize what had happened before the merciful fates finally cut his thread and granted him the peace of death before the pain and agony of his new injury could reach his brain.

Hinata let out a breath before pushing the body backwards and letting it fall to the ground before looking up at the shapeless purple and black swirling mass atop a nearby building. It's form constantly shifting and twisting about it ways impossible to predict.

But Hinata knew.

She could hear the whispering voices of a thousand women echo within her young mind as she stared at the smog. The voices were gentle and warm; reassuring and strong. Each and every one telling her the same thing over and over.

Naruto needed her.

But it was not just her that the boy needed. It was her and that strange...thing she was connected to that the boy truly needed; more than anything else in the world. Both of them were necessary for the boy's health and safety. They needed to take care of him; nurture him, protect him.

But they could not simply do as such; their feelings for the boy would not allow them to act as simple bodyguards. They needed to gain his affection; his love. They needed to be wanted and desired by the boy above all else. Nothing else mattered.

That strange entity's many whispering voices told Hinata what she needed to do to obtain Naruto's love. Each word was spoken with such kindness; such serenity that Hinata felt completely compelled to listen to every last word spoken as if it each held the very secret of life. Why would she doubt a being that could see into her very soul and allowed her to share both of their wants and desires?

They were one; yet separate.

The thing had explained to the girl all she needed to do to obtain Naruto's love.

First; Hinata needed to be strong. Very strong. The strongest female ninja; no, human, alive. None were allowed to be stronger than her; not even the person she idolized. She needed to be stronger than even him, so she could protect him from himself should his curse take over.

Her strength would attract the boy. Naruto noticed people that were strong; so it made sense that if she were to become impossibly strong herself, that Naruto would take notice and possibly an interest in Hinata.

His attraction towards strong women was most likely the main reason he noticed his female teammate, Sakura. The girl was monstrously strong and every single person knew it. The only other person capable of matching her raw physical power was the legendary shinobi Tsunade; and nobody had heard from her in years.

Hinata needed to be stronger than her. But maybe not in the same way. She would use her family's fighting method and training to become even stronger than the pink-haired girl. Why hurt the outside when the inside is where the real damage can be dealt?

Hinata will use her chakra manipulation to tear apart anyone that stood in her way; just like the man whom she had just killed.

The girl felt no remorse for her action now that she was connected with this other being. Before; she would have recoiled at the gore she helped spread; now she revealed in it. It was a sign of her strength and her growing aura of attraction that she was sure Naruto would notice and be drawn to.

The second thing that the girl's counterpart explained to her that would be necessary to gain Naruto's undying affection was; to show him her own feelings that she harbored towards the lad.

The creature told her that staying hidden in the shadows and hoping that a spotlight would suddenly illuminate her was nothing but wishful thinking and a waste of time. If she truly desired Naruto, then she needed to make her feelings very clear to him. She needed to not only show the boy her true affection, but show the world as well.

No longer would she hide around the corner for a chance to see her cherished person go about his daily life. No longer will she only fantasize about the life they could have together. Now; Hinata was going to make all of her love known to the admittedly thick-skulled boy.

That being said; Naruto's dense personality and his lack of understanding of how to handle such affection meant that Hinata had to be very delicate on how to properly express her feelings.

So forcing herself on him right after this whole invasion is over is out of the question. But soon after might not be such a bad idea. Like tomorrow.

Naruto was going to learn of her feeling and respond to them. Not just her feelings, however, was Hinata taking into consideration. Her counterpart also harbored the same immense love and devotion towards the same boy and deserved to show him how much she desired the human.

They both needed to express their love for the boy; and both were accepting of each other's feelings towards Naruto and; without words, agreed that they both will give him all of their combined affection. The boy deserved it.

Naruto deserved every ounce of love that they both could offer; and both were more than happy to give it all to him.

If the poor boy only knew just how much stranger his life would soon become.

Hinata easily dodged an incoming swipe of a wicked looking knife before slamming her palm into the side of her enemy's head. A moment passed before the entire other side of soldier's head exploded into a fine red mist.

Hinata could feel her other's invisible hands guiding her every move as every foe before her was slain in a violent and gory fashion. It was the only way to be sure that they were truly dead as well as limit what they could become when brought back to life. Every addition to her love's army was just another step to him getting closer and closer to becoming completely consumed by the corruption.

As she fought Hinata failed to at first notice the slight rumbling of the Earth beneath her. It was not until the quaking became much more violent did the girl take notice of the fissures head straight for her; coming from the same direction Naruto had gone.

Instead of running away from the splitting ground; Hinata dashed forward towards it's cause; despite her brain screaming at her to do just the opposite. Something told her that she was needed. That Naruto needed her.

* * *

The Earth shook violently underneath the feet of both Naruto and Shukaku. Ten attempted to halt the many fissures that were tearing apart the ground using every stone-based technique he knew; but whatever was coming up was not even inconvenienced by his attempts.

 **"Master!"** A deep booming voice screamed as the Earth exploded underneath Naruto. The boy leapt just before so as not to be injured by the incoming stone shooting up while using said stones to boost himself up higher and higher.

Shukaku was pushed back by the blast and was forced to step even further back as the ground underneath him became too loose and unstable to support his massive weight. While his bulk was usually a good thing; acting as a good form of defense as well as keeping him steady enough to go toe to toe with anything of equal or greater size, he was not built to fight things that could easily topple him over.

In a burst of rage, Shukaku let out a massive blast of air; forcing every flying stone to be sent away from him as well as clearing the massive cloud of dust that had formed. The beast was forced to take another step back as he was now faced with a very unexpected new adversary.

This new entity was, for a lack of a better description, a massive worm-like creature composed completely out of rotting organic matter. Not a single part of it could be seen that one would be able to recognize as once being human.

The creature's entire serpentine body was wrapped in a lattice of bone; all except for a majority of it's belly. Yet, despite what should be a very restrictive form; the creature moved as easily and natural as any other living being. The entire bottom portion of the creature was wide open, exposing an uncountable number of gigantic ribs and multiple orange glowing organs; the purpose of which were completely unknown.

All along the monster's back and bursting out from the Earth surrounding it, were massive fleshy tentacles; also wrapped up in the same lattice of bone as the rest of the main body. At the very top of the creature was an enormous maw filled to the brim with nasty looking fangs and teeth. And inside that mouth was another, and another, and another; all filled with the same number of uncountable massive teeth. All around the main mouth were about a dozen smaller telescopic mouths as well; all gnashing and ready to rend flesh.

The most impressive part of the beast, however, was the fact that not all of it could be seen, only a portion of it was sticking out of the Earth. The rest of it's impressive mass was still buried deep beneath the village. How much of it was still underground was any body's guess.

Naruto landed atop the creature and stared down at his opponent. This was what he had been having all of his creations make since his team's return from the Land of Waves. A majority of it's insides was completely composed of brain-like material; allowing it to control his army's rage and blood lust. Without it, Naruto knew he would have lost all control and his village would be a nightmarish ghost town without his monster's mental fortitude.

Shukaku snarled, **"Nice trick."** Before inhaling deeply; his stomach swelling like a balloon. He slammed both of his hands on his stomach; forcing all of the air out of his mouth with tremendous force.

Naruto dug in and held onto his mount with all of the strength he could muster as the hurricane force winds smashed into the beast. Said creature braced itself for the impact and was quick to protect it's master with one of it's massive tentacles.

The great sand demon took advantage of his opponent's defensive posture to slam all of his bulk against it in an attempt to topple the monster over. His attack failed however as the instant his body got close enough; a forest of tentacles tore out from under the Earth and ensnared the demon.

 **"What the!?"** Shukaku shouted as he could feel himself being forced backwards; despite his struggling to push towards his opponent. Each one of the massive limbs grasping him pulled him away as the main body of beast leaned back before arching forward; towering over the already gigantic demon, with it's multiple mouths slowly opening wider and wider.

In a moment of panic; Ten leapt off of the sand demon and started to make a run for the nearest exit away from the village of nightmares. His mission was a colossal failure. But one could not really blame him for that; not many people expect to have to deal with an army of mutated dead monsters.

 **"I ain't becoming anyone's meal!"** The sand beast bellowed before unleashing a torrent of crushed rock directly into the worm-like monster's gaping maw.

The force of the sand pushed the giant beast backwards and nearly knocked Naruto off once again. This also forced the creature to yank Shukaku forward and nearly toppled the beast on top of the larger worm.

Instead, in a move that honestly surprised everyone, the massive worm had several more of it's strong appendages wrap around it's opponent and began to use all of it's strength to lift Shukaku's impressive bulk off the ground. It was not much, just a foot or so off the ground, but still an impressive feet; and one that that had caught the sand beast off guard.

Naruto took the imitative and made a mad dash towards the mouth of the beast he stood upon. He leapt straight for the stumbling and struggling Shukaku and aimed straight for the top of the beast's head.

 **"Where do you think your going?!"** The demon chuckled maliciously as tendrils of sand sprouted out from around the unconscious Gaara and grabbed Naruto out of the air.

In response to seeing it's master in danger; the massive worm let out an inhuman screech while leaning it's head back and swiping it to the side; smashing into Shukaku while also using the tentacles wrapped around him to send him flying across the ground. A large number of building were destroyed by the sailing colossus, as well as the wall that surrounded the village and part of the surrounding forest.

Naruto was quick to take advantage of the confusion and tear himself away from the sand binding him just as his pet slammed into Shukaku. He was just barely able to embed his bladed arm into the creature's sandy flesh before the force of the worm's attack sent the sand demon such a great distance.

Naruto did his best to hold on before getting just enough of a good hold to start climbing his way up to the human host. If he could somehow wake the sleeping red-head than maybe he would be able to regain control over the giant sand demon. Killing him would only make the situation worse and might end up releasing the demon completely.

Naruto was not worried about his creatures' ability to kill Shukaku; more so for the large number of lives that would be lost in such a clash. Too many people would die, people that he cared about, people that might care about him. Naruto simply refused to let them die.

He had to fight this thing.

He had to beat this demon.

He had to win!

The young Leave shinobi quickly dashed up the creature until he was forced to make several quick leaps up it's arm. He only had to stop once our twice to regain his footing when the great sand demon began to rise back to it's, admittedly, stubby feet.

At first, Shukaku appeared to ignore the tiny human running up him and was more focused on the giant worm that appeared to be almost mocking him from it's position within the village. The sand monster snarled before letting out a enraged roar; blasting a massive column of wind straight for the wriggling worm.

Naruto's beast straightened itself out before sinking back into the ground; completely avoiding the attack that continued past to devastate another portion of the already war torn village.

The Earth began to hill up as the undead worm quickly traveled straight for it's target from under the Earth. The land directly behind the moving mound of Earth quickly gave away to reveal the massive pit the creature had inhabited as well as the gigantic tunnel it was very quickly digging.

Shukaku raised both of it's arms high into the air before slamming them both down with enough force to lift the rest of his impressive bulk straight off the ground. The ground beneath shook violently at the force of the impact and the sound of the massive worm screaming could be heard from underneath the soft dirt.

Naruto had nearly reached his target when a small wave of sund erupted out from Shukaku's flesh and quickly ensnared him. At first; the sand had encased him in an almost cocoon-like pod before quickly separating and becoming tendrils of fine grain holding each of his limbs away from his young body.

 **"You're being a pest."**

Naruto struggled with everything he had; but he might as well have been fighting the very Earth itself for what good all of his struggling did. After a moment, Shukaku moved the boy around his massive bulk so that he was now being suspended high above the ground directly in front of, one of sand demon's enormous eyes.

 **"Your pet has been a pain in my side; refusing to let me smash this little human hole in a nice big stain."** The demon's unhinged voice boomed loudly. **"I was just going to smear you across the ground until all that was left was a mile long red smear. But now I think I'll just settle for making a big splat instead!"**

Naruto quickly found himself hurtling through the air until he was hoisted high above both the demon. The boy looked around and struggled with everything he had. He knew how this was going to end.

 **"But first."** The sand monster chuckled. **"Let's get rid of that disgusting extra you have there. You won't make the kind of splatter I like if you got that."**

Naruto could feel the sand climb over his body and completely cover his new, dead appendage. He could not feel as every cell of the limb was torn away from each other by the tiny grains of rock; he could not feel the rotting blood pour out and fall to the ground far below.

The boy could feel an anger inside of him that was not his own. Well, to call it an anger would be a bit misleading; it was more like a very great dissatisfaction with how the current situation was proceeding as well as disappointment to the boy that just squandered it's most wonderful gift.

Being held up so high; the tightening of the sandy appendages retraining him. Naruto was not simply going to be dropped and left to fall to his death.

No; Shukaku was going to throw him down!

The towering beast was going to use all the force it could to smash Naruto's much, much tinier form into the hard unforgiving ground hundreds of feet below.

Shukaku watched with a twisted smile as his young prisoner struggled in vain. This was what he lived for. The feeling of complete control over an entirely helpless victim. To see the final flicker of the flame of hope die within their eyes; it elated him to no end. Even more so than actually committing acts of great destruction and violence.

But only just.

And so the sand beast stood their patiently as his prey wriggled about like a worm on a hook. His eyes completely transfixed on the struggling boy as his horrifyingly wicked smile graced his demonic face. His eyes did not break away from his helpless prey, even as the chirping cries of a thousand small birds began to quickly fill his ears.

 **"Just what do you think you are doing?"** Shukaku's tone was more bored and annoyed than anything else as a pit formed on his back and the Sasuke that thought it wise to attempt a sneak attack quickly sank down. The pit quickly solidified before completely swallowing the youth and held him still from the shoulders down.

When both Sasuke and Kakashi had arrived to the arena were he was expected to fight Gaara; both had been caught completely off guard by the sudden war that appeared to have suddenly sprung up.

Almost instantly upon arriving an ally explained, in very short detail, what had transpired. Without speaking a word, Sasuke followed the trail of destruction that lead to his original opponent.

Kakashi tried to give chase, but was ambushed by a mob of invaders and was unable to follow his student.

Upon seeing the giant raccoon-dog battle with the massive undead worm; Sasuke had a brief moment of doubt. How was he going to take down this monster? This thing was hundreds of times bigger than him! Not even the special technique that he had spent so long on would even be noticed by such a behemoth.

He stared in complete awe as the two giants clashed; all the while trying to simply comprehend the fact that had he and his teacher arrived just a few minutes earlier, he might have been killed. The realization of his possible death caused the boy to go weak at the knees and nearly collapse.

The only thing that prevented him from doing so was a small spot of orange that had been standing on top of the monstrous worm currently battling the sand demon.

Every single ounce of doubt that Sasuke had was quickly replaced with a moment of surprise, then rage.

There, right in the middle of it all stood one Uzumaki Naruto, the village freak. The weirdo. The pariah.

That freak was right in the middle of a fight between two massive demons and was not showing any signs of fear or doubt in any of his actions.

Naruto was facing up against a demon; an honest to God monster Hell-bent on the complete destruction of everything around it, and was not conceding an inch.

And here was the last Uchiha, Sasuke, sitting about and trembling like a scared little child while the talent-less monster-maker was fighting what should have been his fight.

But, even through his anger, Sasuke knew he would simply die before doing anything to the threat to his village. So he patiently waited until he saw an opening to attack. One finally made itself known when Shukaku had restrained the orange clad ninja and was more focused on terrorizing than anything else.

Sasuke quickly leapt up onto the monster's back and began to focus all of hi chakra on his right hand; starting the new technique his master had taught him. He could feel it all focus right at the center of his palm as small sparks began to form and quickly grew larger and more numerous.

Eventually, he held a mass of thrashing electricity in the palm of his hand. The sound the energy made was not unlike that made by a thousand chirping birds.

Sasuke's eyes focused on the slumped over and sleeping form of his would be opponent, Gaara. Maybe, just maybe, killing the red headed demon-boy would also kill the monster whose head he was currently embedded.

This techniques was guaranteed to break through the boy's absolute defense and Sasuke was planning on aiming it straight for the freak's heart.

With his attack prepped and charged, Sasuke focused on his target and dashed forward with an astonishing amount of speed the Uchiha had never displayed before.

He closed the distance quickly and was about to finally end this attack on his home; when he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a very soft spot of sand quickly swallowing him almost completely.

He was so close to ending it; if he only had been a little bit faster. No! If only that moron, Naruto could have distracted him better; then Sasuke could have delivered the killing blow and ended all of this.

Sasuke's plan had been perfect. It was all Naruto's fault that it had failed. It was his fault that Gaara even unleashed this monster. It's his fault that Sasuke was not able to fight Gaara as he should have.

All of this was Uzumaki Naruto's fault!


	19. Chapter 19

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 19**

* * *

Panic.

That was the only word the could best describe what Hinata felt right now. Pure, unrefined panic; as she watched her beloved dangle helplessly several meters above the hard, unforgiving Earth.

Despair.

That was the second feeling that began to quickly overwhelm her young form. There was nothing she could do! She had just witnessed Sasuke's failed attempt and knew that if he was unable to beat this sand demon; then what could she possibly do?

Feeling her human counterparts worry; La-Rn looked down at her before looking back at her lover. While her human half felt fear; La-Rn felt rage.

How DARE this low life touch her lover! How DARE he threaten her lover!

She could feel the desire to be loved buried deep within the beast. She should bring him close to death then show him just how much she loved Naruto right in front of him; just to rub his worthlessness right in his dying face!

She had seen the fantasies her other had used to pleasure herself and had learned the proper way to pleasure her lover from those thoughts. She was more than capable of doing so now and would be more than happy to display her affection for all of existence to see.

But now was not the time to be thinking of such pleasurable things.

She needed to save her lover first. But how? Even she was at a loss for what to do. But there must be something that she actually could do to save him from his fate. She was just as stuck as her human counterpart.

Hinata could feel the concern and worry emitting from the constantly shifting...thing...beside her. That did nothing to ease her own concern.

The young Hyuuga wracked her brain for any possible action she could take to free her beloved within potentially ending both of their lives. The amount of time Shukaku was taking in tormenting the poor boy gave the girl all the time in the world to try and come up with a plan that would not fail.

Not being able to think of one; Hinata decided that she had to do something and was about to leap towards the beast when the ground began to violently shake.

A forest of tentacles burst forth from the ground and quickly ensnared Shukaku at the same time that the gigantic undead worm burst out from directly underneath; sending the giant raccoon-dog spiraling backwards.

The surprise attack force Shukaku's hold on Naruto to loosen enough that the boy was able to tear himself away. He fell for a short distance before reaching out and grabbing a hold of one of his creature's many dead tentacles.

His monstrous ground dweller wrapped a good portion of itself around the sand demon and gave a mighty roar directly in it's face. Shukaku responded in kind with a roar of his own before unleashing another burst of powerful wind from his powerful jaws.

Despite reeling back from the attack, Naruto's beast refused to yield and slammed it's massive maw against Shukaku's head as a counter. Said sand demon was able to free an arm and brought said appendage up to grab a hold of the giant maw that had come down once again; but this time in an effort to swallow the sand demon's head.

While the two towering beasts struggled; Naruto ran down the back of his monster before making a great leap for the other.

Naruto landed right in front of the sleeping Gaara.

The boy bared his teeth, clenched his right hand into as tight a fist as possible and pulled back.

"Wake the Hell up!" Naruto shouted as he let his fist fly.

But just before it could make contact with the sleeping red-head; a tentacle of sand burst out from Shukaku's flesh and quickly snagged the offending arm, preventing it from reaching it's destination. The sandy appendage squeezed the boy's wrist tightly.

 **"You are NOT sending me back in there!"** The sand demon screamed, even while struggling against the constriction Naruto's worm was putting him in.

Naruto yanked himself forward; only being held back by the wrist, and reached out for Gaara with every ounce of determination he had.

"Wake up, damn it!" Naruto shouted.

He pulled up and pulled against his one restraint; ignoring the pain of each grain of sand tearing into his young flesh. He could not allow this thing to return back to his home.

Naruto swore through gritting teeth as he resisted with every ounce of determination he could muster. Blood poured from his ripping wrist onto the monster he stood upon; ignored by all as

A great and terrible pain suddenly shoot up through Naruto's arm; but he completely ignored it as he had suddenly found himself freed from Shukaku's grip. He could already feel the monster within him 'fixing' the damaged hand; how much damage had been done to it was still unknown to the boy.

It was either the blazing pain coming from his arm; or his sheer force of will that prevented him from blacking out as the sudden stumble forward smashed his forehead against Gaara's with enough force that an audible crack could be heard.

Naruto's body continued forward as Gaara's eyes burst open and he threw his bleeding head back while letting out an anguished cry. His head snapped back towards the blond; his usual dead eyes had been replaced with the insane pupils of the Shukaku.

 **"I told you wasn't going back!"** Shukaku screamed through his host. **"I am NEVER going back! I have waited so long to be let free and there isn't a thing you can do to about it!"**

Naruto snarled as blood began to leak from his eyes.

"Fine!" He roared while bringing up his still normal hand; slamming the palm of it against the side of Gaara's head. He quickly grabbed onto boy before leaning his own head back and forcing his pain-filled eyes open before forcing the red-head ninja to look him directly in his alien eyes.

"I **am** going to make you return!" His red, symbol-laden gaze bore deep into Shukaku's own. "And I am going to make sure your too scared to **ever** come back!"

Everything went silent. Not even the sound of wind could be heard. A complete and total lack of all sound was all that there was.

Slowly, the angry and shocked expression on Shukaku-Gaara's face shifted into one of complete and utter terror.

The demon let out a soul-ripping scream that could be heard all the way back to the village. The giant raccoon-dog itself let loose it's own terrified roar as all color began to slowly drain away from it's form and it stopped all movement completely.

Slowly, small grains of sand began to fall away from it and before long, it too began to fall and collapse under it's own weight; having decided that being caged within Gaara was better than whatever nightmare Naruto was forcing him to witness.

The second he was able to, Sasuke freed himself from his sandy prison and quickly leapt to safety as the giant monster's sandy form collapsed. He was far from happy about how this whole ordeal had gone down.

If only his stupid teacher had not decided that a little last minute training was necessary before his fight; then he would have made it on time and would have been able to prevent this whole debacle from happening in the first place.

If only his moronic teammate had not decided that _he_ was the only one able to challenge _his rightful_ opponent; then this fight would not have lasted anywhere near as long as it did.

The previous doubt Sasuke had felt no longer existed within his mind. He _knew_ that would have been able to defeat Gaara without any problem. No challenge at all. He was the skilled last Uchiha after all. Top of his class. One without peer.

Why else would his own brother leave him as the sole survivor? His older must have been too scared of Sasuke's strength to even attempt a fight.

Why else did he get special attention and training all throughout his academy life and was treated as some grand messiah by the entire village?

And he had missed his grand opportunity to prove it to every one, all thanks to Naruto!

Sasuke seethed as he watched the blond and red head fall out of the air. He left for the village before seeing either hit the ground; not so secretly hoping that both trouble makers landed on their necks.

Naruto had broken eye contact with Gaara the instant that the Sand shinobi's eyes started to revert back to normal. He felt his feet sink into the sand demon before feeling a moment of weightlessness; then falling.

He felt drained. Too tired to even attempt a safe landing. Luckily, something was able to catch him before his spine could be shattered from hitting the hard, unforgiving Earth. Just as he felt himself being saved; his heavy eyelids closed, making him miss the soft smile that belonged to his savior.

Gaara's sentient sand was able to catch the boy; whom was still in a daze.

He had never heard Shukaku scream like that. He had heard it's twisted cackling, roars of chaos and murderous yells; but never anything that could even be remotely assumed to be a sound of fear. But this boy, he was able to full fear out of something that had none. Just by staring it in the face.

Gaara stayed prone on the ground; he too completely unable to move, except for his head that he tilted just enough to look at the still blond boy.

What was he?

Why did he fight so hard against such a terrible beast when he must have been aware that his chances of survival were slim to none?

The second that question popped into his head; Gaara already knew the answer.

That blond boy showed no fear, because he constantly experienced it. Those monsters that followed his orders were a constant nightmare that he will never wake from. And judging from what little he had seen through Shukaku's eyes; the beast sealed within him was so much worse than the raccoon-dog that it made the sand beast's constant nightmares look like pleasant fantasies.

The real question, was _why_ did the boy fight so hard for his village? Gaara knew that with the power that boy wielded that he would surly be seen as a blight on his home. Shunned and hated by all around him. So why fight for those that hate him? The Sand ninja could not wrap his brain around it.

He watched as a dark-blue haired girl wearing a heavy jacket gently laid the boy down on his back.

Someone had saved him. He was not hated by all, it would appear. But still, why fight for them all if he only needed to save one?

Hinata could feel Gaara's eyes stare into her back. she did not glance at him as his confusion could be felt on the very air. At first, she did not feel like even acknowledging the defeated lad, but something compelled her to do so anyway.

"He is not a monster." She stated. Her voice as soft and delicate as ever yet held almost no emotion at the same time.

Gaara's eyes snapped from the unconscious blond, to the blue-haired maiden once her words had reached him. His musing had nearly caused him to forget she was even really there.

"He may control monsters; and he may have one buried deep inside." She looked down at the sleeping Naruto with a tender glare. "But he is not and will never be a monster."

That did nothing to answer Gaara's burning question; but he allowed the girl to continue uninterrupted.

"I feel that he thinks he needs to prove that to everyone; and himself."

Gaara stared at the sleeping Naruto for a moment before his eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak only for his two siblings, Kankuro and Temari to suddenly swoop down and snatch him up before hightailing it back home.

Along the way; the three remained silent. Both of Gaara's siblings looked worse for wear and showed obvious signs of life-or-death struggles.

'Why are they saving me?' Gaara thought to himself. After all he had done to them; all of the fear and pain he had put on the two of them; they still decided it was worth their time and effort to take him back home. Even after his failure.

He slowly looked at the faces of his sister and brother; their stern expressions showing not a hint about how they felt about their youngest family member. Gaara stared out straight ahead at the passing trees and dark shadows of the forest. The words of that girl echoed through his head.

That boy did everything just to prove that he was _not_ a monster. He honestly believed that.

Maybe, just maybe, Gaara was not a monster as well. Even after all of the terror he had spread throughout his young life, maybe there was a chance that he could show that he was not the monster everyone saw him as. He knew it was going to be a long process if he honestly tried.

But where to start?

He looked back at his siblings then down.

A small mumble from their younger sibling forced the two elders to glance at his hanging head.

"I..." He paused. What if they denied his claim? What if they forever saw him as the monster he once was?

Gaara clenched his eyes tightly. Those thought were exactly why he was in this situation. He had to try or nothing was going to change.

"I'm." He paused once more; dreading their looks of eventual hate.

"I'm sorry."

Those words nearly caused the older ninja to stumble. Gaara had _never_ apologized once in his entire life. Kankuro had even begun to think that Gaara simply did not know any words that could be even the slightest bit positive.

Both gave each other and unnerving glance. Neither had any idea how to really respond to their younger brother's sudden apology. Again, this had never happened before, so neither really had any idea how he would respond based on the infinite number of possible responses they could give.

"Uh." Kankuro still could not come up with anything.

"It's alright." Forcing Temari to respond in what she hoped was an appropriate response.

Gaara did not reply and kept his head hung to hind the tiny crack of a smile that threatened to form on the corner of his lips. It was small, but it was the first step to what may become a much greater life.

* * *

Hinata watched as the Sand siblings fled. Her eyes never leaving their fleeing form until even her super-human vision could no longer see them. Once they were gone she focused on the massive worm that swayed back and forth; almost as if it was searching for the giant sand beast it had just been fighting.

The monster continued to look around before turning it's focus on it's unconscious master. Hinata looked up at the towering beast and gave it a kind smile; a message that she would take care of the young boy.

The worm continued to look down at the girl, memories from the other undead within the village told the beast that this living corpse was one that could be trusted with their master. The creature straightened itself before slowly sinking back into the Earth and making it's way back to the village; now able to better command it's master's army now that the annoying flesh and sand creature was gone.

The ground moved as the worm traversed beneath it; showing where it was going as well as where it had once been.

Hinata turned her attention back to the prone Naruto. She blinked and her eyes once again became those mysterious pink hearts. She slowly bent down into a comfortable crouch and placed a gentle hand on the side of Naruto's sleeping face. Her smile was gentle and soft as she stared at his peaceful form; until her eyes glanced over at his damaged hand.

A part of her was enraged as she witnessed the dead flesh twist and mutate into a more violent form. Going from what was once a gentle hand that she hoped would one day hold hers, to a tool of death.

La-Rn had discussed with the young Hyuuga what exactly was inside of her lover and what it was going to eventually do to him, if it was allowed. Needless to say, Hinata was not exactly pleased with this knowledge.

But, as of right now, there was nothing she could do for the boy; except to always stay be his side.

And she would be. **Always** by his side. Forever.

Her hand slowly began to trail down the boy's face to his neck, then to his covered chest. Hinata could feel his steady heartbeat. Proof that he was still alive; not taken by the being inside of him. That still beating hear, that belonged to her; he just did not know it yet.

Hinata's young mind screamed at her to show the boy how much she truly loved him here and now. To have him wake up with her naked and vulnerable form on complete display for him to ravage at his will. Or to take him by force, make him see her love and to accept every ounce of it. To pin him down and have her filthy way with him.

Her legs began to twitch as more and more perverse ideas popped into her head; ranging from the relatively benign to severely illegal. Her hands began to creep dangerously low, only to stop just before reaching Naruto's pants.

Hinata looked up at the misty, twisting form of her other. She could feel the creature return her glance and gave a soft nod.

Now was not the time for such potential pleasantries, and here was too open for potential enemy shinobi to strike one final attack as they retreated from their failed invasion.

The young Hyuuga gently scooped Naruto up into her arms; finding the boy to be much, much lighter than she had expected. A fact that she was sure to file away for later use.

She turned to the direction of her village and carried Naruto back.

There was really only one place she could really take the boy without anyone wondering too harshly as to why she of all people was carrying the protector of their home.

Her family estate would most certainly not do; for a wide number of reasons. And Naruto's home would not work either; mainly due to it most likely being destroyed during the attack.

So, Hinata decided to take the injured boy to the one other place that made sense in her mind; the Konoha Hospital.

When she finally arrived at the village, the invasion was practically over. What few enemy shinobi remained were being quickly rounded up while those that could made their escape. Ninja, along with the undead, were already getting busy either disposing or transforming the corpses that littered the streets. A somber task, but one that needed to be completed immediately if life was ever expected to return to normal.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the young girl was introduced to a a scene of near total chaos. The entrance was filled with the injured and dying while all of the hospital staff was zooming back and forth, from one person to the next; either trying to get them into a room or treating them right then and there.

Hinata was able to find a small piece of the wall where no one stood and gently sat Naruto down before sitting down next him herself. She took the time to inspect his twisted and rotten hand.

The torn flesh of his wrist had hardened and calcified into four a four clawed 'bowl' of sorts, where the new hand rested comfortably; the four claws acting as grips to keep the appendage attached to the boy while still allowing it complete free range of motion.

There was a small gap in between Naruto's new hand and his actual arm. A small orange strand of...something could be seen connecting the two together right at the point where the normal bone would have been.

Naruto's hand had been changed completely. His little and ring finger had fused together as had his middle and ring finger; leaving his thumb all alone. All of his finger had become very thin, and bony while the skin and muscle had retreated back away to the second knuckle; leaving slightly curved bone-claws. The three new claws spread themselves evenly around the circumference of his new hand; of which had become tough and strong due to the new necrotic flesh.

Hinata frowned at the freaky arm attachment. She had dreamed about one day holding that hand, and now it would either be very painful to do so. Or at the very least, very uncomfortable. His other hand would still be held, but holding both will be impossible.

Hinata gave an annoyed sigh before resigning herself to waiting for a doctor or nurse to come help her love. It took much longer than Hinata would have liked; so she passed the time people watching.

All of the injured and the entire chaos of the hospital did not faze her as much as it would have years ago. This, all fo this, was expected by her. She was a soldier and this was the result of war. Just another part of it.

She was still sympathetic to those around her though. She could practically feel their own pain and despair, but the thought of her love being hurt made her focus so much less on them and more on his soft sleeping face.

Eventually, after several hours of waiting, a nurse finally came to a stop in front of the young pair. She opened her mouth to speak, but upon seeing the rotten flesh that was once Naruto's hand, her mouth snapped shut and her eyes instantly shot to the unmistakable Hyuuga.

Hinata just gave the nurse a blank stare in return.

The nurse quickly gathered her wits before quickly getting a wheelchair and helping Hinata wheel the unconscious boy to a hospital room near the top floor. The trip was dead quiet.

Naruto was quickly put into the bed. The nurse was going to stick Naruto to put an IV drip in; but a firm hand from Hinata, coupled with a warning glance, told the nurse that doing so would not be wise.

The nurse left without saying a word; once again, leaving Hinata alone with Naruto. That is, if one ignored the invisible purple cloud hanging around just outside the hospital window.

Hinata sat in the only chair available within the room and waited patiently for a Dr. to come in.

She was more than aware that there was nothing that they could do to help Naruto with his reformed appendage; but considering the current state of the village this was still the safest place for him.

Hinata watched Naruto's slowly rising and lowering chest. Her pale eyes slowly trailed over his sleeping form. Her eyes quickly becoming those strange pink hearts once again.

She licked her lips as she slowly rose from her seat.

It wouldn't hurt, right? Just one little peak.

Hinata slowly walked over to Naruto's bed; her eyes never leaving his sleeping face.

Surely, it would be a while before a doctor or another nurse would show up. So what was the harm is taking a look at her future husband's most private area?

The Hyuuga stood next to Naruto's bed; her demented eyes scanning every inch of him before her shaking hands gently took hold of the sheet covering the boy's delicious.

She pulled the fabric back very slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves that might awaken him from his blissfully unaware state. Hinata pulled the sheet down past the boy's knees before letting go and gently placing her hands on Naruto's clothe covered chest.

Her mind screamed at her to go straight for the price; but Hinata resisted and, with sweating hands, began to slowly drag her hands up to Naruto's neck. Her fingers instantly clasped onto the zipper of his jacket and slowly began to pull the metal piece down.

The only sound the girl could hear was her impossibly fast drone of her heartbeat; she was so focused on watching every single tooth of the jacket's zipper come apart from each other that the very sound it made did not even exist in her mind.

After finally pulling the zipper down, Hinata once again slowly trailed her hands up Naruto's stomach to his slowly rising and lowering chest; all the while pushing aside the jacket that dared to block her access to the tight black training-shirt the boy wore underneath.

The fact that Naruto was unable to train properly due to his curse showed. Instead of the more well defined form that most ninja his age would have, Naruto still had a thin layer of fat making his stomach flat, but featureless.

Hinata loved it regardless. Did not hurt that she was not really that attracted to the whole 'ripped' look either. Physically average suited her just fine.

Her hands slowly ran over the boy's shoulders before once again returning to his stomach to grip at the hem of his shirt. Her eyes shown brightly as she slowly pulled the article up enough to expose as much flesh as possible.

Her knees began to shake as she slowly lowered her head down to the boy's sleeping face, one hand placed firmly against his chest. She gently pressed her lips against his cheek. The young girl could feel the very texture of his skin on her lips and felt a joy flow her unlike any before.

Her pink eyes began to glow brighter as a massive grin spread itself across her pristine face. She kept her head low as her hand traveled to the front of Naruto's pants. Her tongue snaked out from in between her lips and began to lick all across Naruto's bare chest.

He tasted amazing. Fantastic! Like a meal that one never wanted to stop eating.

A euphoric feeling washed over Hinata as she dragged her tongue down to Naruto's stomach; her hand rubbing against the slowly growing bulge forming on the front of his pants.

Hinata wanted to see it so bad. Wanted to taste it more than anything else.

But she knew she needed to be patient. She wanted it to be begging for her touch before removing it from its cloth prison.

Her mouth trailed lower and lower, changing from sensual licks to gentle kisses as her head came closer and closer to it's goal. Her hand continued to rub at the bulge even as she felt it twitch and jump through the fabric.

"You taste so amazing, Naruto." The girl moaned almost too loudly. "I can already tell I'm going to get addicted to the taste of your pussy pounder." The words left her mouth as if instinctively. She had no real thought on what she had said. It just happened.

It just felt like the right thing to say.

"I can't wait to have it in my hot drooling mouth." Her hand stopped only to push itself just under the rim of Naruto's pants. "I bet your going to have to force me to stop sucking the life out of your hot dick, even after you've fed me load after load of your hot tasty cum."

Her hand moved from side to side, gently rubbing the skin while also slowly reaching lower and lower.

"Can you feel what I'm doing to you?" She moved her head next to his and whispered in his ear. "Are you able to push past those dreadful nightmares and see the dream that awaits you?

A near silent click suddenly reached the girl's ears; and with the speed that only a skilled shinobi could possess, Hinata was able to quickly cover Naruto back up and return to her seat. Leaving not even the tiniest possible detail that anything had happened. She was able to accomplish it all before the door handle even hand a chance to turn all the way.

In walked a male doctor and the same female nurse that had greeted the Hyuga and had lead the ninja to the hospital room. The doctor was looking at a clipboard as he walked in, only to stop for a moment and read whatever was on said clipboard with a furrowed brow.

He looked up and directly at Hinata for a moment before glancing at the nurse. Said woman gave the doctor a worried look while giving a silent nod.

The doctor gave a heavy sigh before handing the nurse his clipboard and walking over to Hinata. Said girl watched the man as he approached and crouched down in front of her.

His face had some slight age to it despite him probably still being relatively young for an experience medical professional. His eyes were tired and filled with constant sympathy; especially today after all he had seen from the invasion of his very home.

It did not help that on some occasions, the undead beasts that roamed his village would find their way into the hospital and would just, watch. They would watch as the hospital staff performed their duties; never making any noise or making any other motion than a simple turning of the head; or whatever was left of one.

Occasionally they would take away the dead. Just dragging their corpse out of the hospital to do who-knows-what.

He was not a fan of those monsters.

The doctor looked Hinata right in the eye. "You're ok." He said with a friendly smile. "You're safe here. You do not need to do what that boy tells you to do."

Hinata was now even more confused. What was this guy talking about?

Seeing her confused expression, the doctor continued. "We know that this boy must have forced you to take him here." He explained. "Whatever he threatened you with or is trying to blackmail you with; we can promise that it will never see the light of day."

How DARE this man imply that her love was anything else but pure!

"What?" Hinata responded.

"Your clearly a Hyuga." The man stated the obvious. "And he is clearly not anywhere near your social standing. There could be no possible reason for him to be even remotely close to you unless he was forcing you to do so in some way."

Hinata was about to point out the headbands that both she and Naruto were wearing when the doctor decided to continue.

"Everyone knows who that kid is anyway. We can make sure he and his beasts don't ever hurt anyone ever again."

Hinata's eyes widened in a combination of shock and anger. The girl quickly changed her enraged expression to one of great concern.

What? No, no, no." She quickly repeated while waving her hands a bit. "I saw Naruto get hurt and thought that taking him to the hospital was the best thing to do."

The doctor gave the young ninja a sad look for a moment before standing back up with a sigh.

"Fine," The man said in a defeated tone. "He can stay to rest; but you know was well as I do that we can't actually do anything for him."

"I know." Hinata responded kindly.

The man then walked over to his nurse and whispered something to her before both left the room. Hinata stood and gave a respectful bow to the pair as they left; both giving the girl a pitiful glance before closing the door.

Hinata sat in the room silently.

She did not move at all and barely showed any signs that she was even breathing.

Once all possible noise had stopped coming from the other side of the door; Hinata stood up.

* * *

"Really?!" A nurse asked around the huddle she and several others had formed. Things were starting to calm down and becoming much more manageable now that the medical ninja portion of the staff were returning from the battlefields. This gave the hard working civilians the much deserved break they needed.

So, several of the staff appointed to the same floor Hinata and Naruto were currently on had decided to get together and whine about the hectic day they have all been having.

The discussion was pretty sparse and not too interesting until one mentioned the Master of the Undead and the Hyuga Princess that were currently occupying the floor.

"They are just in the the room at the end of the hall." The nurse that had just seen the pair said while pointing at the room door. "It is super obvious that he did something to that poor girl. You can see it in her eyes."

"Someone should do something about him." Another commented. "His freaks have practically taken over the entire village."

"But weren't they just helping defend it too?" A third spoke up.

"It doesn't matter if he started turning the living into those things too." The second responded quickly. "What if he does it to all of the kids belonging to the clans? What if he makes them kill their parents and take over the entire village? He could spread his monsters all over and potentially rule everything!"

The doctor that had just walked out of the room overheard the women and just shook his head as he made his way to the stairs. While it was most likely true that the demon-in-human-skin was manipulating the Hyuga somehow; he had doubts that the boy was going to try and rule the world.

He was most likely just going to end it.

What else would one do with an army of the dead?

The doctor continued in this way of thinking as he slowly walked up the stairway towards the roof of the hospital; the one place he could be left alone to gather his thought and enjoy a smoke.

He opened the door to the roof and took a deep breath of the open air; the smell of explosive powder and broken metal could still be hinted at faintly. The sounds of war were so distant now that they were practically gone and were now being slowly replaced by those returning to their homes and businesses; hoping that there was something left to rebuild.

The doctor ignored it all and walked over to part of the tall chain link fence that surrounded the roof; a normal safety precaution. With a heavy sigh, the man opened his white doctoring coat and pulled out a golden cigarette case; a gift given to him on his last birthday by his ever so loving wife.

He opened the case and took out the matching lighter as well as a cigarette. He placed the end in his mouth and chewed; allowing the taste of the tobacco to flood his mouth as he leaned back and tried to clear his raddled mind.

He closed his eye for a moment, basking in the heat of the sun and cool wind before gripping his lighter and raising it up; his finger poised to strike.

The sound of metal being torn away behind him caused him to pause for just a moment before he found himself suddenly having a very difficult time breathing; the cold unknown hand gripping his throat probably had something to do with that. He instinctively reached up to pry away the fingers tightening themselves around his neck; but could not move them even the slightest bit.

The surprised medical practitioner was yanked back against what remained of the fence. A cold and raspy breath could be felt against the back of his aged neck.

"I don't like what you said back there." Malice dripped from a voice of a million women.

The doctor did not dare say a word as what felt like a dozen chilled snakes began to touch him at random points. Something long and wet pressed itself against his cheek.

"You threatened to hurt my lover." The grip on his neck tightened. "That upsets me."

A sudden pain shot through the man's face as the wet appendage bore itself into his cheek; tearing through flesh and digging its way just under the skin.

"Greatly."

There were no words that the doctor could speak. Nothing could come to mind that would help him in this situation. Not even a tiny beg for mercy could reach out from his constricted throat.

"I have to make sure that no one dares to harm my love." Her grip tightened. Her voices sounded almost hysterical. "I can't have you coming back either. You might harm my love if it were to ever get free."

"What should we do to him?" Another chorus of female voices spoke up. It sounded so similar but ever so vastly different from the first group that had spoken.

"He mist die, but never come back." A third chorus had joined in. "There is one way we can insure that."

All was silent for a moment. But it was enough for the doctor to think back on literally every single decision he had ever made in his life and wonder what could have been.

"Yes." The main chorus spoke up. "It is the only way."

The doctor grit his teeth as he felt the tongue start going down within his face. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention to a dark purple, almost black, skinny arm slowly reaching around. At the end was a hand with eight long thin fingers.

The fingers made a nasty cracking noise as they pulled away from each other.

He opened his mouth to scream; but the noise never left his mouth as his vision suddenly was overtaken by the hand rushing towards his face.


	20. Chapter 20

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 20**

* * *

Naruto woke up after what felt like the first good rest he has had in a very, very long time. The nightmares that normally plagued his dreams were almost none existent with only a few forcing the information about his new hand directly into his fragile mind.

But, besides that, his rest had been as calm and uneventful as any normal humans should be.

So, when his mind began to awaken, Naruto actually tried to resist and go right back to sleep. However, the sudden realization of what caused him to pass out came flooding back into his waking mind and forced him to quickly sit up in a moment of panic.

He looked around quickly and instantly noticed he was inside of a building and laying in a soft bed as apposed to the hard ground he had expected to be on.

Naruto was bout to question how he had gotten her when a soft voice gave him all the answers he needed. He snapped his head to the side to see Hinata getting up from her seat in the corner; a worried expression etched along her pretty young face.

"Hinata?" Naruto was more confused now about why the girl was the only one else in the room more than the actual room.

"Um," Her face flushed suddenly. "I saw your fight." She could not look the boy in the face. Part of her was bashful towards the fact that she had gone out of her way to watch him; and he now knew that. Another part of her was mortified with the implication that Hinata left her allies to fight on their own just so that she could see the boy.

"Oh," Naruto looked down for a moment before quickly looking back up at the Hyuga and flashing his famous smile. "So you saw me beat up that stupid sand dog right?"

Hinata gave the boy a soft smile of her own, but was quick to notice him trying to hide his new hand from her.

"It was very impressive."

"Guess that's proof enough that I'm already the best ninja there is." He laughed loudly. "The old man should just hang it up now and make me the Hokage after handing that demon it's ass."

Hinata's smile faltered as she watched Naruto try to hide his dead hand under the sheets.

"Naruto?" Her smile faltered. Now was a chance to show him that she truly cared for him. "Are you alright?"

Naruto gave the girl a confused look. "Of course I am Hinata. I just saved the village. I'm gonna' be a hero to everyone now!"

Hinata could see it in his eyes. Naruto honestly desired for that to be true. More than anything he wanted the people of his home to see that he was not just a master of beasts but an actual member of the village; a person.

At the same time, a heavy amount of doubt could be seen behind those shining blue eyes as well. He knew, deep down that such a wish was foolish. That it did not matter what he did to prove that he was for the village; most everyone was going to see him just the same as the monsters he creates.

She did not let a look of pity appear on her face. That would just upset the boy even more. Instead; Hinata slowly walked over to the sitting shinobi with the same soft smile.

"I saw everything you did." Her mouth suddenly felt very dry as a flush of color started to come to her face. "I saw everything that happened." She walked around to the side that Naruto was desperately trying to hide.

She reached out; fingers trembling, her hand gently placed against the boy's clothed shoulder.

"I saw everything you sacrificed." She gently pulled at his arm; Naruto resisted at first, but quickly gave up when Hinata's gentle expression wormed its way into his mind and made him feel bad for trying to hide from her.

She held up his monstrous hand and gently placed one of her own on top of it.

"Everyone may not think that your the hero." She looked him right in the eye. "But I know you are."

Naruto did not say a word for a moment and appeared to be lost in thought.

After a moment or two, the boy spoke up.

"Thanks Hinata." He gently pulled his hand away from the girl and gave it a good hard look. "I hope at least some of the others are as accepting of my changes as you are."

Hinata was quick to reply; jumping at the opening Naruto had just provided for her. "It doesn't matter what happens to you, Naruto. Even if all of you becomes one of those things; I know that you will always be you. That you won't let it change who you are or what you hope to be." he looked at him and allowed herself to get a little bit closer.

"Because." Her face became an even darker shade of red. "I know who you will always be." Her entire body was practically shaking. "Naruto Uzumaki; future Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves."

"Wow!" Naruto straightened up, completely ruining Hinata's attempt at affection. "Thanks Hinata." He smiled brightly once again. "It's good to know that if I need any help that I can count on you."

Hinata let her hair cover her eyes as they flashed a brilliant pink for a split moment. Returning to normal after the boy's words finally reached her ears.

"Your the best friend I could ever hope for."

Her eyes almost started to shoot beams of pink they shone so brightly. The multiple hearts in her eyes growing both in size and number.

"Friend?" The word was like poison to the girl.

"Yeah!" Naruto responded enthusiastically. "Your my most best friend ever, Hinata!"

Her entire body began to tremble.

"M-Maybe you should rest for a little bit longer, Naruto." She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible. She could feel La-Rn's desire build with her own. They were both alone in the room with an almost zero percent chance of anyone walking in on them.

She could have her way him for as long as she wanted. She could break him. Make him hers in every way possible. More loyal to her than he could ever had been for the village.

But; that was not right. That was not what she wanted. She wanted to show him her love and feel him accept all of her just like she had him. To push him down now; while fun and enjoyable, would simply damage her show of true affection.

Hinata took a long calming breath; her eyes returning to normal before looking back up at the boy. "You must still be tired from your fight. So please, rest here, at least for the night."

Naruto pretended to mull it over. "I don't know. I still feel like I should be out there helping clean up after the mess I made."

"You can do that later, it would do no body any good if you wore yourself out even further."

"Alright fine." Naruto agreed with a sigh. "I'll stay the night." He held up a finger. "But the instant that sun is up; I am out of here and back out there helping the village."

Hinata just gave the boy her usual smile before standing up. The sun had already begun to set and it was about time for her to head out and help her own family with whatever repairs were needed.

A low grumble suddenly filled the room.

Hinata looked directly at Naruto with an unreadable expression.

Naruto's face turned read and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Guess I'm kinda' hungry."

Hinata shook her head while once again; smiling softly.

"I hope a nurse comes by soon." Naruto continued. "I'm hungry enough to even eat the slop they serve here." He looked directly at Hinata. "Aren't you hungry too? Wanna' grab something to eat instead."

Hinata, still smiling sweetly, responded in kind. "No thank you. You need to rest." She turned back towards the door.

"Besides..." She turned the door handle and began to leave the room; feeling a flare for the dramatic all of a sudden.

"I've already eaten."

"Ugh." Naruto was a little put off by his friends suddenly dark and overly dramatic tone; having no clue as to why she was putting on such a cheesy act. "Alright. I guess I'll see ya' later then."

Hinata said her goodbye and gently closed the door...

...Only to spin around and practically slam her back against it; her eyes shining such a brilliant pink that it was almost impossible to see the countless hearts within them.

One hand instantly went up her shirt and quickly tore her special made, ninja tactical bra away. Ribbing the fabric apart and throwing it aside without a thought. The same hand quickly went right back up under her shirt and jacket to begin violently kneading at her young breast.

The other hand instantly forced itself deep into her pants and began to furiously sink any finger that could fit inside of her hungry snatch.

Hinata's mouth hung open as her tongue and copious amounts of drool dripped down her chin.

She had been holding it in all day; since even before the attack on the village had begun. Before she and even met Naruto just a few hours ago to walk towards the arena, where everything had started.

The need had started as a barely noticeable twinge in her loins; something one would only really notice if they were actually focused on it. As the day progressed and so many things were heard and seen; the need within her grew stronger and stronger.

It took every last ounce of Hinata's will to not force herself upon the lad and fill every single one of her tight needy holes with every last drop of love cream that boy had to offer.

She wanted to so, so badly. But she knew she could not. Making him fear her was not the outcome she wanted.

The thought of a naked Naruto on his hands and knees looking up at her with a wanting pitiful look as his cock dripped in desire from within the confines of a tiny cage, was a pleasurable one. Something to possibly try at a later date.

The sound of her fingers viciously attack her sopping wet cunt could be heard echoing down the hallway. She honestly did not care who saw or heard her lewd actions. In fact, she hoped someone would see. She wanted to show off exactly how her love made her feel.

It would be even better if Naruto opened the door right at this very moment and saw her desperate and slutty face. Then, seeing how cock-starved she was, he would taking is dripping cock out right in front of her; grab the back of her head and shove the entire length right down her untrained throat. Make her choke and gag on the throbbing meat as breathing would become impossible. Tears would leak from her face as the pain of her throat being brutally forced to accommodate the boy's girth would be almost too much to bear. Almost.

Then, right before the lack of air would bring her to unconsciousness, he would angle her neck back painfully so that it would be a clear shot from her lips to the very depths of her throat, and he would just mercilessly face-fuck her. Gagging her over and over; tearing her tight throat apart. Thrusting his cock over and over inside of her happy drooling cocksleeve of a mouth; splashing drool all over his crotch, the floor and her face.

He would shove her soft, royal face face into his crotch over and over; filling her nose with nothing but his scent. Make her eyes roll up into her skull from lack of air.

And she would not fight it in the slightest; in fact, she would embrace such behavior. She would wrap her arms around his waist just so insure she would not fall off. She would drive as much of him into her mouth as possible. Her tongue would lavish the intruding appendage with all the love she had within her; covering even further in her hot saliva.

After what would feel like hours of Hinata having her throat abused, Naruto would slam hi hips as hard as he could into the girl's face; nearly breaking her nose. As he held her in place; forcing the girl to gag constantly as he would unleash every ounce of built up cum directly down her throat and into her stomach, filling her up.

And Hinata would take it all happily. She would relish in the feeling of having Naruto's hot love fill her belly full. His cock would just continue pumping more and more cum into the poor girl until eventually her swelling stomach would not be able to hold in anymore and it would start to flow back up through her throat. It would fill her throat and mouth with Naruto's amazing flavor and force the girl to use all of her remaining willpower to keep every last drop inside.

But she would fail. The amount of cum would be too much for the Hyuuga princess and a torrent of the white stuff would burst out from around Naruto's cock; still lodged deep in her throat. The mess would spill down her chin and onto her front; coating her jacket in Naruto's delicious cream. The gunk would soak in and leave a stain that would never come out.

Hinata would walk around the village proud of the stain.

After cumming all he could; Naruto would slowly pull Hinata's cum soaked face off of his still throbbing cock. He would have a bit of a difficult time trying though as the girl was sure she would continue to try and suck that heavenly flesh all she could.

Hinata took the one hand that had been fondling her chest and quickly shoved it in her pants as well; working with the one already thrusting in and out of her soaked cunt. The amount of love juice pouring from it had long since soaked through her pants and was beginning to drip onto the hallway floor.

Her knees gave out and the girl slowly slid down to the floor. Her front leaned forward before falling over completely with her chin rest on the floor and her plump rear held up high into the air; just a few feet away from where Naruto could easily see.

Both hands continued to work as her fantasy continued.

After Hinata would be finally pulled away from the love stick; Naruto would let go and allow her to fall in the puddle of cum that had been left behind. The boy would watch as she choked and gasped for air her lungs desperately needed while still trying to swallow the massive amount of cum that still stuck to the inside of her throat and mouth. He would be upset with her; for allowing all of his love to come pouring out; for her to be unable to accept it all.

Naruto would have to punish Hinata in the best way possible.

He would slowly walk around the prone girl; who would watch every step the boy took. Seeing where he was going, Hinata would force herself onto her shaking knees; leaving her cum and tear soaked face still planted on the floor.

The young cum slut would do her best to entice the boy with an almost innocent shake of her rear. She knew she was going to be punished and could not be anymore excited for it.

He would grab her firm, yet soft, butt and give it a good feel through her tight pants; his fingers practically sinking into the soft flesh. Naruto would fondle her rear until eventually wanting more; spreading her rear as far as possible with one hand and using the claw of his other to tear a massive hole in the girl's pants.

"No~." Hinata would say weakly; despite her rear end still swaying back and forth in the most inciting way possible. Her hands even slowly coming up to hold her butt open for him; giving Naruto better access to her back door.

The boy would pull both hands away, making the girl practically whine from the loss of contact until something long and hot would rest itself in between her spread rear. She could still feel the cum and saliva coating the pleasure stick as it rubbed up and down against her rear.

"Please." She would beg as she held her butt apart even further. "In here. Please."

Hinata would feel the cock leave for just a split moment before feeling the head gently press at her tight anal ring. She bit down on her bottom lip as she felt her stupid butt resist the bringer of pleasure for a split moment.

"Um...ma'am?"

A voice forced Hinata out of her fantasy. Her eyes instantly snapped to the owner of said voice while her face remained the same slutty expression.

She had been caught by one of the nurses. Looking past, Hinata could see several others looking from around the corner.

The Hyuuga did not say anything nor did she stop masturbating.

Seeing that she had the slutty girl's attention, the nurse tried to come up with something to say. "Um, you, uh...can't do that here." Her face was bright red and her voice shook. This was not exactly something that commonly occurred at the hospital and it was not something that one was usually expected to confront.

Hinata slowly rose to her knees; fingers still working their magic, before forcing herself to her shaking legs. She promptly slid right back down as her fingers dug deeper and deeper; just barely out of reach of that sweet spot she knew would end it all.

"Just." The girl breathed heavily. "One moment." She pushed as far as she could.

Finally, like a dam against a raging flood, Hinata's orgasm came with a tremendous force. Her already soaked pants could not contain the flood of love juice and a puddle of the stuff formed directly underneath her.

Hinata let her body slump over for a moment; an expression of pure bliss etched onto her red face. Her eyes partially rolled up and her tongue hanging out just to solidify the image of a wanton whore.

After a moment of gathering her strength, Hinata slowly got back up to her feet. She slowly drew her hands out of her dripping pants; both coated in a thick layer of dripping liquid and still connect by a string of the stuff to the front of the girl's pants.

The young Hyuuga turned to the nurse and gave a bow. "I am very sorry that you saw that." She straightened up before holding one of her slime covered hands out. "I hope I can trust that no one else will know about this."

The nurse took a step back, the bright pink eyes of the Hyuuga sent shivers down the older woman's spine. Ninja were scary.

Suddenly, the realization of what she just saw and the person who had committed such a lewd act finally hit home in the worst way possible. This was _the_ Hinata Hyuuga, the heir to the entirety of the Hyuuga clan.

They were a clan that never had to worry about anything distasteful getting known unless they wanted it to be known. Meaning, if they wanted to, they could easily silence her as well as every single staff member of the hospital without anyone ever raising a single question.

So it was in the best interest of everyone if they just kept their collective mouths shut about the whole thing.

The nurse gave quick nod.

Hinata smiled in return before turning around and hobbling towards the elevator and exit. Her love juices still dripping down, leaving a trail from the puddle in front of Naruto's door to the elevator; where is gathered even further before trailing out behind her towards the hospital exit.

Just outside Hinata could see the collapsed form of La-Rn laying limply in the middle of the road; several of her arms draped over some nearby building and her tentacles laying limply on the ground as the sound of a million women moaning and breathing heavily could be heard coming from what was once the dark void that filled her lattice-like head.

The dark void of La-Rn's head had become a brilliant pink abyss.

She had noticed that her other half was doing something to herself that appeared to feel good, and so had decided to widen their connection so that she too may experience a pleasure never known to her kind. The very moment the feeling hit her, the giant creature nearly lost her grip on the hospital and had to take a moment to readjust her grip.

The overwhelming pleasure assaulted her form like nothing ever before. Every part of her felt so good. So, so, so good. The entirety of the vid the made up her head began to brighten to a full brilliant pink.

The feeling became more and more. As unexplained as it was wondrous.

She instantly knew that this is what she had always wanted. This is what her lover was meant for.

Pleasure. Pure unrefined joy that two beings can encompass each other in.

And yet; it still was not exactly what she wanted.

The pleasure was their own; her lover having only the bare minimum in its involvement. She wanted him to be the direct cause. The desire to feel that same pleasure over and over by his hands filled her with such perverse ideas and thoughts stolen from her other.

She needed him badly.

She needed him to give her all of this pleasure himself.

Eventually, it all became too much for the entity and her grip failed her. La-Rn came crashing down to the ground and landed in a moaning and twitching heap as her other become more aggressive in her self pleasure.

Yet the other worldly being knew that it was only a small portion of what her other was feeling. No mater how hard the young creature tried, she was unable to fully feel everything Hinata felt; only a small portion.

She needed to feel all of it on her own. She was going to...what did her other use to describe the action?

'Fuck him with every hole she had until he could no longer think about anything but her and pleasure each one of her cum hungry holes had to offer...'

That; La-Rn was determined to do that to the innocent little human that had captured her multiple hearts.

She was now more determined than ever to find a way to physically express her love for Naruto. As soon as she was able to move again, she was going to find a way to receive that level of pleasure again; but more directly next time.

Hinata arrived home without any issue. She was able to regain all of her composure and regained her strength by the time she approached the front gate. Along the way, the girl was able to see the extent of the damage the village had taken upon the invasion; of in which was over by now.

The roads were torn apart, building toppled or completely reduced to rubble. It was all a sight that brought the girl feeling of overwhelming sadness and depression. The only thing that didn't bring the girl into full on despair, mainly about how the village was going to recover from all of the damage, was the lack of any of the bodies that would have most likely littered the streets.

Naruto's beasts were quick on the clean up at least.

The front guards were relieved upon seeing Hinata calmly approaching their home and let her in without a second thought. Luckily, her hands and pants had mostly dried by that point so there was no worry in anyone questioning anything.

Walking through her home, Hinata noticed that very little to no damage had been done to any of the major structures. There were the signs of battle, scratches in wood and burn marks, but nothing too severe.

There was, however, commotion at the main gathering hall that forced Hinata to go investigate as opposed to just heading home and to bed.

Upon arriving, Hinata saw a large horde of Naruto's screaming and roaring monsters surrounding the building. Curious, the young girl made her way past the undead nightmares and into the main hall where she saw a large number of her clan standing in between the horde and the covered corpses of the Hyuuga that had fallen that day.

"Hinata." The voice of her stern father broke through the cascade of monster cries and reached his daughters ears. Said daughter turned to see father and younger sibling, Hinabi, walking over to her.

The man looked the girl over for a moment. "You look like you handled yourself well today."

Hinata gave her father a respectful bow. "Yes father. I protected our village to the best of my ability."

Hiashi Hyuuga looked down at his eldest daughter for a moment; his stern expression never changing as his expert eyes looked over every single physical detail of the girl.

"Those monsters your friend has made have been trying to get to get to our fallen ever since the invasion ended." The Hyuuga leader explained. "I don't think I need to explain to you why that can not be allowed."

Hinata just gave a silent nod in response.

The older man motioned for a door that lead further into the compound. "Come." He looked at his youngest. "I am trusting you to watch over things and to insure that none of those bodies rise up again."

Hinabi gave her father an affirmative nod before taking her place in between the members of her family and the undead. She was never one to fail her father, so why would she start now?

Hiashi calmly walked out of the room with his eldest not far behind.

Once out of the large room, Hinata closed the sliding door behind them and was caught off guard to see her father turned around and looking right at her with that same stern expression he was famous for.

The girl suddenly felt very small under his gaze. She always did. That positivity and confidence she had just a few minutes ago completely vanished when his cold eyes locked onto her.

Disappointment. That was the only word that best described what she felt. Self loathing came next as a very close second.

She was even further caught off guard when her father suddenly lunged at her.

Hinata's first reaction was to quickly retaliate, but she found herself unable to as both of his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her in close for an embrace.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again." His voice was soft but held more force than ever. His grip tightened. "I had n idea where you had gone when the enemy attacked. I had feared the worst."

Hinata was at a loss for words. She had never seen her father expression any other emotion besides resentment. This was something that she doubted anybody else had ever seen.

She was a ninja now. It was expected that she would go out on live threatening missions or even those that she was not expected to ever return from. Her father had never shown any real concern when she had gone out before; so why now?

Hinata just stood there, having no clue as to how to respond to her father's sudden show of affection.

The two stayed that way for what felt like a lot longer than just a few seconds before Hiashi pulled himself away from his daughter and his usual tone and stature returned.

The old father did not say another word and simply walked away, leaving Hinata to stand there in her stunned state.

After a moment of stunned silence, Hinata made her way back home, still in a slight daze.

The next morning, the girl did not remember stripping down to nothing after entering her room or her actually go to bed and to sleep. What a strange day it had been.

* * *

The next day began like any other with the only difference being that there was no a big reconstruction effort going on through out the entirety of the village. Those that could helped while everyone else went back to their own jobs and lives.

Being invaded was sort of an expectation when you lived in one of the largest ninja villages in the known world. Sure, there were quiet a few people that were traumatized by the experience just as one would expect, but for the most part, the people of the Village Hidden within the Leaves had enough where-withal to handle the aftermath of an, admittedly poorly planned out, invasion.

Life went on.

Hinata was to meet with her team early in the morning. On her way she passed where the corpses had been guarded and saw that the place was empty; whether that meant her family or Naruto's was successful was completely unknown.

Hinata watched the reconstruction of her home village as she made her way to the meeting location.

Just another day in the Village Hidden within the Leaves.


	21. Chapter 21

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 21**

* * *

Naruto was very hesitant on leaving his hospital room. He continuously looked down at his deformed claw-hand with a look of worry and fear.

Sure, Hinata was willing to accept his change, but Naruto knew that the other villagers would most likely react a lot more negatively towards his grotesque change.

He had full control over the hand and he had been practicing using the new appendage so to be sure to never harm anyone with it; despite it being some sort of weapon for him to freely use. How; he still did not know.

Eventually, the boy worked up the courage to leave and was pleased to see that every body was too busy with their own issues to worry about the strange claw that now stood in place of Naruto's hand.

Upon exiting the hospital, Naruto was greeted by his usual entourage, the two Stalkers he had made so long ago. He was pleased to see that they had made it through the invasion intact.

Walking home, Naruto noted the damage that the invasion had caused. And the damage his own monsters had put on his home; especially the massive tear in the Earth that his largest beast had caused.

Already, the construction teams were figuring out how to fill in the hole so that the rebuilding of the surrounding structures could begin. Everything was just one big mess.

And Naruto knew he was the one to blame. At least for a large portion of the village's destruction.

He did his best to avoid as many people as possible on his way home; the close he got to it the easier that became.

Naruto was not too surprised to see his dilapidated apartment still intact. It was a worthless place usually, so why would anybody bother to attack it?

The next few weeks were spent helping the village repair all that was possible. Naruto's team went on only one or two real missions outside of the village, mostly just resource collection to help in the repairs and not much more.

Kakashi was sure to document how his team was handling themselves after experiencing a miniature war first hand. Everyone took full-force aggression differently and nobody walked out of a fight without some sort of scar.

Naruto, strangely, did not complain about the lack-luster and rather boring missions. Feelings of guilt would not allow him to. The boy did not appear to want to talk as much as usual and his usual upbeat mannerisms had diminished significantly to the point that the jonin was already determined to address the issue to the Hokage.

He knew that the boy must be feeling an untold amount of guilt due to the destruction his massive worm-beast had caused trying to protect the village. Kakashi had tried to explain to the boy that sometimes casualties happen and that the damage that his creations had caused was nothing compared to what could have potentially happened to his home if they had not been around to protect it.

It did little to comfort the boy. At least having him help out with the village repairs appeared to ease his displeasure as well as the fact that Kakashi and Sakura were both accepting of his new hand.

Sakura was handling everything really well, not to the surprise of the old scarecrow. She handles herself well and even struck fear in the enemies when showing off her colossal strength. Kakashi was almost positive that some of the damage was so to her short-temper as apposed to either the enemies or Naruto's beasts.

She showed no real obvious signs of either mental or physical distress due to the invasion. But did cut her hair the next day after as well as began to forgo the tight shorts she wore as well as opening the front of her battle dress a little more. Something clearly happened during the invasion to cause the girl to 'express' herself more assertively.

Regardless, Rock lee did not appear to disprove of the girls change in attire. After seeing his girlfriend in such a public display, the poor kid became flustered beyond belief and was unable to say a proper sentence for at least a few hours without stumbling over his words.

Kakashi just hoped her parents have already given her the 'birds and bees' talk. Otherwise how was just going to throw one of his adult books at her and hope for the best.

Since the invasion, Sasuke had been acting more and more reserved than usual. He came to meetings with bags under his eyes and appeared to be in a constant of annoyance and exhaustion. He spoke even less than normal to his teammates but appeared to be harboring some sort of extreme animosity towards Naruto; if the glares to the back of the blond-boy's head was any indicator.

Every time the team performed a task, Sasuke appeared to try and do double as much. Even going so far as attempting to take away responsibilities that were put into Naruto.

This behavior, besides being very rude, was not conducive to a proper team dynamic and needed to stop immediately.

It was after another day of helping the village rebuild that Kakashi was about to pull the Uchiha brat aside for a stern talking to when an all-too familiar silhouette approached the tired group.

Kakashi's lax stance quickly straightened as Lady Orochimaru approached the matter how hard he tried to keep his cool demeanor and his lack-of-concern attitude; it all quickly vanished when this beauty of a woman showed up.

She still confused everyone as to how she appeared to float along the ground instead of walking. Her beauty once again turning nearly every head while the power she radiated prevented any from approaching her. If she found anything even remotely interesting in you; she was going to approach you, not the other way around.

She gave Kakashi a momentary glance before focusing all of her attention on her one and only true target. She did not say a word as her eyes scanned the boy. She had not seen him for a while, but he had appeared to have matured a bit since their last encounter.

Her eyes zoomed in on Naruto's mutated had and the older woman had to fight an urge to grab the boy and do whatever it took to make him let her take a good long look at it.

Lady Orochimaru quickly caught herself staring and gave her elegant smile to the whole team; almost completely removing any possible inhibitions they might have to dealing with her in any way. Not that there were any.

Except from possibly Naruto. He still recalled what the woman had done to him that night so long ago; forcing a light blush to grace his face.

The older woman caught the slight flushing of the boy's face and made sure to hide her pleased grin as a simple kind smile.

"Lady Orochimaru." Kakashi addressed the woman forcing her attention away from her prize. "What brings you here?" He immediately wanted to slap himself at least a dozen times over. What kind of moronic question was that? She was clearly here about the attack on the village; though, specifically what for regarding as such was still unknown.

"I just returned from a little meeting with the Hokage." She explained in the royal tone that nearly knocked everyone right off their feet with the power each word held.

"He explained everything to me." She looked from Kakashi back to Naruto. "I just wanted to offer something to little Naruto here."

Said boy's only response was to gulp audibly. The unease that the woman gave him was indescribable; yet at the same time he could not help but feel proud that such an important figure had such an interest in him. Even though here very interest in the boy was something else entirely than what he would prefer.

"Y-Yes?" He tried his damnedest to hide the unease he felt, but not even his constant nightmares intimidated him as much as this woman did.

"I would rather explain my offer in private." She looked back to the rest of the group. "If that is alright with you." It was not an question. This was a demand. There was no way in Hell that this powerful woman was going to accept anything but the answer she wanted to hear.

Without saying a word, Kakashi gave a nod and gave a half-assed wave as he departed for the day.

Sakura straightened her outfit slightly before going off to go do her own thing and Sasuke had left right after Lady Orochimaru had uttered Naruto's name.

If anyone had actually observed the Uchiha as he left the group, they would have noticed his aggressive stance. Rage had quickly filled him the instant that woman had shown her intent towards his teammate.

Why was he so important? He was a freak that made a mockery of death by bring those lost back from the abyss. He should be held in the most darkest dungeon since birth and never should have seen the light of day. Better, he should have been killed the instant that his cursed power had shown itself. Would have saved the village a whole lot of trouble.

So why is it that this freak has the attention of not just the Hokage but also one of the most powerful ninja to ever grace the Earth when the last Uchiha was standing right here with the all powerful Sharingan eye and the blood line of the most powerful ninja family to ever exist?

Would it not make more sense to groom him instead of the village failure? He needed to become the strongest ninja in recorded history. There was no other way for him to kill his loathsome brother and restore his clan back to it's former glory. The incomprehensible stupidity of the village baffled the young warrior to no end.

So, he had taken it upon himself to train nonstop, day in and day out, to remind the village who he was and what he stood for. It was no secret that the Uchiha were one of, if not the primer, founders of this village. Without them, the village was significantly weaker than it had ever been; even with all the other clans.

HE was the future of this village.

* * *

"Um," Naruto had no idea what to say now that he and the scarily beautiful woman were alone.

Lady Orochimaru did not appear to hear the boy as she began to walk away from him towards an unknown location.

Naruto stared for a moment before realizing she wanted him to follow; which he did.

Orochimaru was lucky that no one could see her face, as she was sporting the strangest smile that fit more on a love-struck lunatic than an elegant lady of her standing.

The boy was actually following her with out her even saying a word! It was the most adorable form of obedience she had ever witnessed.

This boy was powerful. Very powerful.

His ability to bring back the dead as twisted malformed horrors was what originally caught his attention. His cute face helped a tad. But his willingness to do whatever she said just solidified her attraction to the boy.

She could see it now...

Naruto, a now full grown man tied up in chains, on a hard stone table. His eyes begging her to let him go as she stands over him with her foot firmly pressed against his-

Lady Orochimaru shook her head a bit to clean her mind of such foul thoughts. Those thoughts were not meant for someone like her.

Her interest in the boy was completely scientific based and had nothing to do with how obediently he did everything she asked without asking too many questions. She loved obedience so very much.

She lead Naruto over to a nearby food stand, ordered a small drink and sat down at the close-by bench; giving the boy a look demanding that he do the same.

He did so without question.

The pair sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm going to be going on a little trip in a few days." Orochimaru started. "I'm going out to search for my old teammates."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by the older woman.

"Yes. The other two powerful shinobi that make up the Legendary Sannin. The Sage Jiraiya and the world's strongest woman, Tsunade." She took a sip of her drink. "I am hoping to convince them both to come back to both help with the rebuilding of the village." She gave Naruto a glance. "As well as several other projects I have in mind."

She turned to face Naruto; who was downing his own beverage.

"I would like for you to accompany me."

Naruto gulped hard. The thought of being left completely alone with this woman was a terrifying thought. The thought of her trying again what she had done a month or so ago sent a shiver up the boy's spine; but not an entirely displeased one.

The woman reached out for the boy; who flinched back instinctively.

Lady Orochimaru halted her hand for a moment before gently placing it down on his constantly decaying hand. "I could help you with your ability, Naruto." Her hand gently caressed the rough and torn flesh.

"I really do want to help you." Her other hand had come up and was now gently holding onto the side of Naruto's face.

Naruto felt terribly uncomfortable and wanted nothing more than to deny the woman's request; but knew that doing so would be a terrible mistake with possible consequences effecting him for the rest of his life.

Needless to say, Naruto gave the powerful woman a nod and nearly gave a sigh of relief when she responded with a small smile.

Lady Orochimaru rose from her seat. "We will depart in a few days." She repeated. "I don't expect we will be leaving the Land of Fire, so please pack accordingly."

She turned her head to look at Naruto. Her face, the same graceful smile that nearly everyone else in the world would _kill_ just to have directed at them.

"The Hokage already knows that I have requested to take you along with me and has agreed. So there are no worries about you leaving the village." She gave the boy a small bow. "I look forward to our trip together, little Naruto."

Naruto watched in a cold sweat as the woman left. Just what had he gotten himself into?

At the same time, he could not help but feel very proud. One of the most powerful ninja alive wanted _him_ to travel with her to find the other two most powerful shinobi around.

Naruto decided to focus more in the prideful feeling than the worry and looked forward to the trip as a chance to grow and become even stronger. Surely, Lady Orochimaru was going to train him at least a little bit on this trip. She even said so.

This trip was a once in a lifetime chance and you bet Naruto was going to take full advantage of it.

* * *

"It was a complete fucking failure." A rouge Stone shinobi mumbled into his drink. The man sat at a table near the back of a barely used tavern out in the middle of nowhere. The last place safe for him.

"You were a part of that invasion?" One of his new cohorts replied. After his colossal failure, the shinobi quickly gathered all he could and made a break for any country boarder he could before his own people could find him and tear him apart.

"Yeah." He downed another glass of a foul tasting brown liquid that burned everything it touched. Yet the pain that he felt from the hard drink was nothing compared to his hatred for both his old home and the village that forced him from it.

"So what happened?" Another cohort inquired while leaning in. Not a word of the specifics of the invasion had gotten out to anyone who was not directly involved. As far as the rest of the world knew Sand and Stone failed to take down the Leaf and failed spectacularly.

The man downed another drink, slamming the glass onto the table hard. "It was all because of those damn brats!" He suddenly roared.

"A group of genin caused two military villages to fail in invading a single, unaided village?" A third snorted.

"Fuck you!" The rouge Stone ninja shouted. "If that stupid fucking kid had not given the wrong signal then the whole thing would have gone off perfectly!"

"That can't be the only reason the attack failed."

The ex-Stone shinobi glared down at his drink. "It doesn't fucking matter now. I'm not a part of those fucks anymore. I'll be making more doing shit with you all anyway."

The other three gave slight cheers while downing their own drinks.

One of them leaned in a bit. "I already got our first score all set up." He whispered. The drinking clearly already going to his head as talking about something in such a public; though empty, place was not usually seen as a good idea.

The others giggled a bit while leaning in to listen to the man's loud whispers.

"So, you know how there is this big ol' market town where a large number of the other countries bring their good right? Smack dab in the middle where all of them meet right?"

Everyone nodded, confused to what their friend was going to imply.

"So, I was thinkin' that we all join in with the local gangs and what-not and work our way up to the top?"

His friends all gave a collect groan of disapproval.

The man looked around. "What? I know it'll take time but I'm sure that we're good enough that it'd only be a matter of time before we all ruled the entire town."

"You think your the first to come up with a lame plan like that?" One of his cohorts commented. "I can promise you that nearly every single gang, bandit, and bastard there have the exact same idea and have been working on it far longer than any of us."

The plan making guy sighed heavily. "Fine, guess we'll just keep doin' what we've been doin'."

"Finish up boys." The second bandit ordered. "It's getten' late and we got folks to victimize." He nudged his crestfallen friend. "Maybe we'll catch a noble's daughter or somethin' and we'll get a fortune for her 'save' return."

His friend perked up at the prospect, but did not lose his disappointed stance.

One of them went up and paid the tab. It was a good bar and the owner never asked any questions about its' patrons; so keeping a closed mouth was good enough to warrant a paid bill.

The group made for the door, all chatting and have a good laugh.

Until one of them actually opened the door.

They were greeting with the large and imposing form of the Hunter bearing down on them. One bladed arm already thrust through the chest of one of the bandits.

"Oh fuck." The ex-Stone ninja whined pathetically. This hulking stalker was the other reason he was no longer in his homeland.

At first he thought it was just another one of the monsters that the Hidden Leaf had that just followed him home. He tried loosing it for a while and appeared to be successful several times; but it would always show up later.

He tried fighting the beast a dozen times. Nothing worked.

He cut it apart with a thousand blades. He blew it up with one million bombs.

All of it useless.

Any damage it appeared to receive appeared to simply vanish away.

He did everything he could to try and distract the creature. Not a single thing worked.

It just kept coming.

And it had finally found him here. How? He had no idea.

The grumbling beast looked at it's impaled prey for a moment; recognized that it was not it's target, then lazily tossed the body aside. It's hollow yellow eyes quickly fixed on it's target once again.

That living corpse that had dared to harm it's master!

The rest of the bandits quickly ran as the creature stomped forward, it never moving faster than a brisk walk.

The man ran once again; as he had done time and again.

Only, this time he had drink in him slowing him down dangerously. Every step felt like he had lead weights tied to his ankles.

He stumbled to the back of the bar, near the fire exit. The world swam around him as he was suddenly assaulted with the light of the setting sun.

He continued to run as best he could; doing everything he could to shake off his inebriation.

He looked behind him to see the creature slowly walking towards him; even as he got further and further away. By the time he found a place to stop for a moment, the effects of the alcohol in his system where nearly completely gone.

Years of training as an assassin could teach you some very useful life skills.

He leaned against a nearby tree trying to clear his grog-clouded mind, looking up just in time to see that monster slowly passing towards him.

He felt so helpless. No matter what he did, the creature would not stop. He could slow it down, but for only so long.

It had been chasing him for weeks without any sign of giving up. And he honestly doubted it ever will until he dies.

He couldn't anymore. He couldn't run. He couldn't hide.

He was so tired.

This thing was so unlike any enemy soldier he had ever encountered. Never resting, never tiring, never dying.

He slowly slumped down against the tree; the desire to fight having completely left him. Maybe, if he had not drunken so much, he might have tried to run once again; but the futility of doing so as well as his depression over recent events removed all feelings of hope that he might have had for survival.

He looked up as the creature approached. It stopped for just a moment in front of the man; staring down at him with those unyielding yellow eyes.

The man made a very feeble attempt at crawling away only to have an impossible amount of pain tear through every nerve in his body as a massive blade impale itself on his stomach.

The man's eyes widened in shock as he was raised off the ground and brought closer to the beast's face.

Said creature tilted it's head slightly before bringing up it's other am and stabbing the man through the stomach with it as well. It quickly yanked the second blade out before plunging it back in over and over, spilling blood all along the road.

Blood poured from the man's mouth as his gut was torn apart.

The creature stopped for a moment before using it's second blade to suddenly slice away the man's legs; finally tearing a scream out from his dying throat.

It did not hesitate and quickly sliced away one of his arms; leaving him little more than a bleeding torso.

In one finally desperate bid for life, the ex-Stone shinobi reached out towards the creature with his one remaining arm. His eyes begged for the creature to show mercy. To just let him go.

He just wanted to live; even it is meant being unable to move anymore. The man valued his life too much to just let it all go.

"Please." His bloody throat croaked out. His outstretched had was just able to reach the creature's chest.

It stared at him for a moment before letting out a low growl and bringing it's attacking blade down on his still impaled form; severing his head and remaining arm from the rest of his torso.

It then hacked the remaining corpse off of it's other blade and began to stab at the pieces; just to insure that it's target was no longer drawing life.

Satisfied with the mess it had made, the creature turned away from the human remains and began the long trek back home; pleased that it had removed the one that had tried to harm it's master.

It would return home and wait until it was needed again, to take care of those that the others could not; for one reason or another. Being able to ignore your master's occasionally foolish orders did have it's benefits it appeared.

Before, when it was still another of the master's loyal servants, it was tasked with the needless job of protecting the master's place of rest. What a foolish task to give such a prime Hunter. The master's home was never in any danger of either damage or invasion; being surrounded by his loyal family and the living corpses that appeared to want to serve him as well.

The master himself was also never in any real danger. His Stalkers along with the massive Tormentor would insure his safety; as well as the countless other members of the family. So there was no need for the Hunter to remain waiting at the master's home to guard against invaders that would never come.

Instead, the Mind had decided to give the first of it's master's creations the honor of becoming something more than it already was. A more effective member of the family that would be able to better serve it's master through it's own thoughts and volition instead of depending on it's master for every command, or even the orders from the Mind itself.

It's body had been changed to better serve a different purpose than the other's of it's kind. To be a true Hunter of the living. It's new purpose was to no longer simply protect it's master, but to teach the foolish living corpses roaming this planet that they are not to harm it's master. Any that do will never be forgiven and will pay not only with their life, but also by never being given the chance to join the family.

Thoughts of potentially betraying it's master never dared to enter it's new mind. Why would it? Killing him would remove not only itself but also all of new joy's it felt upon slaughter. Killing without the joy of knowing that you were expanding your family was not something that the creature was willing experience.

This new un-life it had been granted was too great for it to even contemplate betraying it's kind and loving master. But it will ignore the master's orders if it deemed the master's orders too detrimental to the master or the master's family. Even if it meant the wrath of either the Mind or the Master; if it was for the well being of the family, then nothing else mattered.

Nothing mattered besides the family.


	22. Chapter 22

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 22**

* * *

Naruto was sure to inform anyone that cared that he was going to be leaving for a while. So basically he told his team, the family that ran his favorite ramen shop, and a few of the other genin that he had at least one conversation with.

Some were either impressed or jealous that Naruto was going on a training trip with Lady Orochimaru and was going to directly meet the rest of the legendary Sannin. Other's could not care less.

Hinata responded a bit...strangely to the news.

When Naruto told the girl, she responded as one would expect; impressed that Lady Orochimaru had directly asked for him to travel with her. Yet, there was something, odd about how she conducted herself upon hearing the news. Naruto just could not place his finger on what exactly it was.

La-Rn was a little more obvious in showing her displeasure and made a big show expressing it. Naruto was sure to explain that there was nothing between him and the much older woman. She asked for him to promise; which he did without a second thought, forgetting what happened last time he made any promise to the otherworldy monster.

She responded with a promise of a 'reward' should he keep his promise upon his return. The boy was a bit worried by what she meant by that and was sure that it involved him with little clothing.

Of course his Stalkers were going to be tagging along with the rest of his creations remaining to protect his home; same as every other mission he had taken outside of the village.

He packed everything he would need for a normal mission outside of the village; sure that if they took longer than the expected two week time frame most genin-level out-of-village missions took, then the pair would stop somewhere to restock.

The day for Naruto's departure soon arrived and the boy gathered up all of his things, made sure that his two Stalkers were with him and not goofing around, and made for the still destroyed village entrance. A grim reminder of what Naruto's beast could do if left unchecked.

He was the first to arrive and so took a seat at one of the nearby benches just outside of the large entryway and decided to take the opportunity to figure out what his hand could do. While he clearly took every opportunity he could to try and figure the new appendage; there were still an issue or two the boy had in actually using it.

First thing he was sure to test was if he was actually in control fo the new hand or if the Moon inside of him was going to be able to use it as an extension of itself.

So far, he could move every digit without problem and could still point and grasp with it like any other hand. In all honesty, it acted just like a normal hand, just with few less digits. It was strong and Naruto still could feel with it. Was still strange to suddenly not have the normal number of digits though.

It took the lad a few days to get used to manipulating the hand before he could even properly open a door. Now he had full range of use of the hand and could use it just like his other, human, hand.

It was clear that the new hand was meant to be used as a weapon; what with the long claws and the formation of the fingers. But it was clear that it was not just another slashing tool for the young monster creator to use.

Naruto tried holding it out in many different ways to see if it would change or if he would feel anything different. As far as he knew, the new limb could make him throw fire or turn his enemies inside out.

The only noticeable difference was that he constantly felt like her was still partially holding something with the limb. What he did not know but he had an feeling that it had something to do with the secondary set of claws holding onto the hand itself.

The problem was, Naruto had no idea how to release these secondary claws as well as what to do after he had done so. He hoped that he would have a full grasp of how to use the appendage after the journey with Lady Orochimaru.

Luckily, he did not have to wait long for said woman to make her appearance. She arrived within an elegant, covered horse-drawn carriage. The vehicle was covered in symbols of both the Leaf and Sound villages and was lined with a fine gold trim. The entire thing was meant to be sign of the good faith that the two countries had as well as a symbol of the grand wealth that someone like Lady Orochimaru tended to deign as rightfully theirs. The two pristine, well-bred white horses pulling the carriage did nothing to harm the appearance either. Neither did the well dressed older gentleman sitting atop and driving the vehicle.

A bit snobbish if one was unaware of who actually owned the cart.

"Are you ready?" She asked kindly while taking a step out of the vehicle.

Naruto gave a nod, picked up his bag and began to walk down the road with his twin monsters right behind. He was more ready now than ever before.

"Where are you going?" The older woman's voice called out to the walking boy.

Naruto turned to see that Lady Orochimaru was still standing by her carriage, confusion etched in her perfect face.

Naruto looked at her then to the carriage and back again. "I thought we were going to be searching for your teammates. Wouldn't it be better if we were on foot and able to ask anyone we met along the way?"

The woman chuckled slightly at the naivety of the boy before putting on the air of false harm.

"I am hurt my dear little Naruto." She acted perfectly. "For you to think that I would not already have several clues to my old teammates' locations." She acted as if her very heart had been hurt.

"To think that you would not trust me to have a network of spies and informants littered all over the continent." She acted as if her legs had grown weak and had grasped onto the side of the carriage as support.

Despite her obvious acting, Naruto could not help but feel at least a little bad that there might have been a slight possibility of him honestly hurting her feelings of trust in him.

Naruto approached the falsely hurt woman; his expression one of sadness and regret.

Lady Orochimaru loved that look on his cute young face.

"I'm sorry." He apologized softly. "I'm sorry for not trusting in you."

"It is alright." She said while wiping away a false tear on the sleeve of her elegant robes. "I am sure there will be some way for you to earn my forgiveness."

The not-so-subtle hint behind the woman's words reminded Naruto somewhat of La-Rn and her apparent love of returned favors and rewards. The same spine-chilling feeling and all.

"Let us not tally any longer." Lady Orochimaru quickly returned to her regal tone. "We have a far distance to travel." She started to climb back into the carriage with Naruto following suit.

The inside was spacious enough for the two to sit across from each other comfortably, with the seats and walls lined with plush velvet. The dozen or so pillows on either side of the seats were made of the same color cloth.

Lady Orochimaru closed the door and lightly tapped on a plank of wood directly behind her head; one moment later, the cart began to move with Naruto's two Stalkers walking along side it.

"Now." She began. "I bet your wondering where we are going."

Naruto nodded and focused is attention away from one of the velvet-lined buttons that had been very, very interesting to him. Totally not anything that he could use as an excuse to not look directly at the very beautiful woman he was now in a tight space with.

"We will be making several stops; the first being at the capital of the Land of Fire. I just recently received news that my one male teammate, Jaraiya, might be around there."

"The capital?" Naruto had never been to the largest city within the land, but had seen many people from it. Most looked and dressed as the rest of the common civilians, but a large number came dressed in fine clothes that he could never dream to own.

"Never been?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well," She smirked slightly. "You will see it when we get there. As well as the reason I am assuming that my most...unique teammate might currently be around there."

"But." She was quick to continue. "Until we arrive, we must take this opportunity to train you as much as we can."

Naruto's eyes lit up at the prospect of what this wise and powerful shinobi could teach him. "Awesome!" He cheered a little too loudly for the enclosed space the pair were currently traveling in.

"What are ya' going to teach me?" He asked excitedly. "Some super secret, forbidden techniques?! A fighting style that no one but you has mastered?! What?!"

The older woman could not help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm. His desire to get better and better was something to aspire and it filled Lady Orochimaru with a sense of pride that it was he asking _her_ to teach him.

Of course, many countless people had asked to be her apprentice; and she declined each and every one. Not because she did not see any potential or enthusiasm on those that requested her tutelage; but because she herself never felt like she was ready to properly teach an apprentice.

Until now, Lady Orochimaru was usually so enthralled with her own research and studies that she never had the time.

This boy, however, was different. He was the very target of her research. Everything she had been studying centered around him. She would be a fool to let the opportunity to tutor him pass her by.

"Maybe." She said coyly before reaching across her for Naruto's monster hand. "But first, we have to help you gain a full understanding of your new power." She held onto the boy's wrist with a gentle touch while her other hand slowly ran over every inch of the rotten flesh.

"I have no doubt that you have tried on your own to figure out what this wonderful thing can do." Her voice was soft as her gentle hand forced apart the fingers and studied every detail.

Naruto could feel his face heating up as the woman caressed the decayed tissue, her eyes staring directly into his with the same softness as that of her hand.

"But I have a few ideas of my own on how you can learn to use it properly." Her voice suddenly became very prideful. "Thought, I doubt my first idea will be incorrect."

Naruto tore his eyes away from the woman's for just a moment to look down at the hand she was so gently holding. Both of her soft hands continued to trace lines along the appendage before one made a clumsy attempt at properly holding the boy's hand in a more intimate manner.

Naruto's eyes widened as his face became completely red. His eyes instantly darted back back to Orochimaru's.

"Together, I know can unlock every secret your power has to offer." She whispered in a determined tone. "And I know my teammates will help us along the way."

Th pair traveled a good distance before the sun began to set. A small camp was made and Lady Orochimaru took Naruto to train for a few hours until night fell. It was nothing more than some basics, just so that the older woman could see what the boy knew and would be capable of; with and without his twin Stalkers.

After, Naruto tried to strike up a conversation with the driver that had been so kind to take him and Lady Orochimaru; but found out that the man was incapable of speaking. He was able to properly use his hands to talk as well as pantomime well enough for Naruto's...limited intelligence to grasp some of the basics the older man tried to communicate.

Tents were set up and all slept in their own with Naruto's undead creatures acting as the full time night watch.

The next day the group continued onward towards their target location with a single break right at around noon to eat as well as to get in a little more training for Naruto.

This time it was a little different, however.

"What?" Naruto asked the older woman, completely bewildered by her orders.

"I said, 'we are going to meditate for the next two hours.'" She repeated herself. "You said that you are constantly plagued by the Moon's influence on your mind, correct?"

Naruto gave a slight nod.

"And I am sure you have at least given meditation a try; at least once, right?"

Naruto gave another nod. He had given the mental training a real honest try. Once. For a grand total of about two minutes and seventeen seconds. Anything longer and Naruto thought he would die of boredom.

"Good." She said in a pleased tone while seating herself on top of a large rock sticking out of the ground. She looked at the boy expectantly, waiting for him to do the same on the ground in front of her.

Naruto got the hint quickly, sat down in the proper meditative pose, closed his eyes, and let out a long calming breath. This was going to be a long day.

"Now." She started softly. "Unlike what you have most likely heard from every other teacher you have had; this meditation is going to be different than the usual."

Naruto did not open his eyes, but did listen to the woman's words.

"Instead, I want you to focus completely on the images that the Moon sends you. Try to focus on just one. Block all the others out and try to see every single detail the image gives."

Naruto actually opened his eyes this time and gave the woman a concerned look.

"You have to trust me." She practically begged; instantly making Naruto resign.

Naruto took another calming breath, closed his eyes, and allowed the images to freely flow through his mind. It took more effort than Naruto expected to single out just one of the many nightmarish scenes constantly plaguing his mind.

Eventually he was able to get one in focus.

The memory took place within, what looked like an average civilian home during mid morning; specifically in the kitchen. Only, everything was shaded a deep red and the thick glowing veins and organs of the home's three occupants burned his eyes.

Out of the corners of his eyes, Naruto could see the tall-tell signs of the twin blades of one of his Slashers. Clearly a memory from one.

The creature stalked towards it's prey; slowly, as to size up it's prey. The father was standing in front of his wife and daughter with a kitchen knife in hand, poised to strike at the creature if need be.

And he did almost immediately as the monster charged forward, letting out an inhuman roar as it pulled both of it's bladed arms back; poised to strike into soft flesh.

"Naruto?" Lady Orochimaru's voice called softly to the motionless youth sitting below her.

The boy did not respond. Not a twitch, not the smallest motion to let the older woman know he had heard her voice.

A wicked smile formed on the woman's face. Her idea had worked and now she could go about examining the boy without worrying about scaring him away. Too enraptured in whatever image he had decided to focus on for him to notice her slowly get up and get closer to his sitting form.

"I'm sorry." She whispered softly; knowing that what he must be witnessing was nothing short than a nightmare. But it was all going to be for his own good in the long run.

The woman then proceeded to give the boy as much of a full physical examination as one possibly could to a motionless figure without directly touching them. So needless to say, there was not much she could do besides study every possible inch of the boy with her eyes.

She desperately wanted to reach out to examine the lad. To feel every curve of his twisted skin.

She decided to risk it.

Reaching forward, ever so slowly, Lady Orochimaru made to do as she pleased. If the boy awoke from his meditation then the woman would just use her authority to force the boy to cooperate in her pursuit of knowledge. Even though, deep down, she knew she needed her teammates help with anything further than what she already knew.

Still; that did not mean she was not willing to push as hard as she could to learn every possible facet of this boy's deforming body.

Her soft hand gently pressed against Naruto's still arm. He did not move.

Lady Orochimaru waited another moment. Naruto did not show any signs of being aware that the much older woman was currently touching him.

The woman was able to ever so carefully trail her hand down the boy's arm and reach his hand without him giving any sort of indicator that he noticed. Smiling at what she was now able to do; Lady Orochimaru pulled the boy's deformed hand closer to her and began to examine it much more thoroughly than before.

Her delicate hands moved the appendage ever so slightly this way and that; letting her eyes absorb every last detail possible. Every speck of rotten flesh and drained vein was seen in clear detail underneath her analytical vision.

Her hands eventually made their way to the claws that adorned Naruto's hand. Her fingers slid over the smooth material while ever so slightly moving each just to see the range of motion. Each claw was smoother than she had expected, with the very tips of each being as sharp as a surgical needle.

The fingers moved like one would expect; so there really was not anything dealing with the hand itself that interested the woman. That is, until she reached the strange secondary claws gripping onto the wrist.

Lady Orochimaru tried, at first, to gently move the claws. Thinking that with the boy's mind preoccupied with whatever horror the Moon was providing, that his already easily manipulated body would relax enough for her to make some sort of progress.

Alas, twas not to be as the claws moved not in the slightest and resisted the woman's gentle touch. So, she used a little more force.

Nothing.

A little more.

Not a single ounce of movement.

The older warrior was starting to get annoyed at this point. But she was not willing to push any further without risking the boy waking up and realizing what she was doing.

Instantly, another idea just popped into her head. One that was not based completely on unraveling the mystery behind the boy's hand. She just needed the boy to wake up.

* * *

Blood.

Blood covered everything.

The once nice dining room that had once been filled with the laughter of the small family, was now silent.

Before Naruto could focus anymore on the nightmare he had just witnessed several times over; the image began to warp and distort horribly. It quickly became nothing more than a twisted mess of colors before finally coming together and reappearing as the living room that the Moon resided in.

The gigantic heart-shaped monster stared down at it's host; whom simply glared back, trying his best to forget the mental torture he had just gone through.

 **"You are a strange one, my prophet."** The Moon's heart spoke in it's infinite voice.

Naruto did not respond and continued to give the abomination a nasty glare.

 **"You put yourself in risk of death despite your god dwelling within you."** It began listing. **"Then you fail to add the heretics to my body."**

The entity stopped for a moment.

 **"I gave you a gift so that you would add more parts for my form; but you failed to use it and even lost it to what would have made a wondrous addition to my body."** The being began to lament while gazing upwards at nothing in particular. **"If you had not so foolishly let it slip past your grasp, Convergence would have begun and my new body would have truly begun."**

The creature quickly returned it's gaze back to it's host.

 **"Worse yet."** It's large eyes began to glare down at the boy; tearing away any feelings of defiance and quickly replacing them with absolute dread.

 **"You wasted a gift that your god was ever so gracious to give to such a lowly prophet and forced your god to fix your useless body twice within such a ludicrously short time."**

The entity stared down at Naruto for a few moments once again.

Naruto gulped loudly. This thing was capable of doing anything it deemed fit to anyone that defied it's will. And now Naruto was at the full brunt of the being's anger.

There was nothing he could say to defend himself and he was simply unable to think of anything to say that might change the creature's mind about the events it had just described.

 **"Your god will need to enact a proper punishment so that you will not disobey."** The creature's toothy maw slowly opened to reveal a nest of fleshy tendrils held within.

 **"It would be best if you did all that your god commanded. You were to be rewarded the honor of being at the center of my new body, but it appears that you need to made more usefully sooner."** The tendrils began to crawl out of the gaping maw. **"It would be best if your god was in control for now on."**

The tendrils suddenly lashed out towards Naruto. The boy was able to dodge one or two, but the barrage quickly became too many and he was ensnared by the fleshy growths.

He was held fast as a thinner tendril lowered itself towards the boy's head.

 **"You will be as the rest of my form. Your god will take control and all will finally be as one."**

The appendage made to touch his forehead.

"LOVEEEEEEEEER!" The voices of a legion of women screamed from, what sounded like, everywhere.

Suddenly a countless number of long, thin, purple arms appeared out of thin air; all reach for Naruto. Each multi-fingered hand snatched at and tore away the vile tendrils restraining the lad before making mad grasps for his small form.

More and more hands began to appear out of seemingly nowhere; each either fighting off the just as numerous tendrils or making for Naruto.

The poor boy was being grabbed and tossed back and forth between both fighting parties with such force that it was nearly impossible for him to keep up with what was going on, let alone actually try to break free.

Eventually, the hands won out and one successfully grabbed a hold of Naruto's leg. Several others quickly followed and began to clasp around him; creating a small bubble of protective fingers.

"My...Lover..." La-Rn's many gentle voices echoed within the darkness that now encompassed Naruto.

"What?" Was the only thing Naruto could think to say. Everything had happened to randomly and so fast that his young brain was still trying to just catch up; let alone process it all.

"Keep...Lover...Safe..." Her soft voiced sounded like they were right by his ear. "...Always...Forever..."

Before he could say another word, Naruto found himself back in the waking world; with Lady Orochimaru looking down at him from atop the same rock she had been sitting on before his mental torture.

"Learn anything?" She asked with an honest curiosity.

"The Moon is angry." Naruto stated bluntly while getting to his feet. "I'm not doing what it wants."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Are you still in control?"

Naruto made a fist and placed it directly in front of his heart. "Of course! Not even that wicked heart can take over the best ninja the world has ever seen!" He boasted loudly.

"Are you still in control?" The woman reiterated. "Of _them?_ "

Naruto's face quickly became serious. His head hanged low for a moment as he looked at his monster hand. He was still able to move it like normal with no strange resistance or any sign of loss of control. "I, really don't know."

He looked up. "Guess there is only one way to find out." He made his way back to the carriage where his twin Stalkers awaited his return.

The two undead monsters had decided to roam around the place for a bit, being bored of sitting atop the carriage for so long. Their meandering about, however, was not something that the horses pulling said carriage were very appreciative of.

They made that clear almost constantly with random fits and attempts to break free from their bindings holding them to the vehicle. So letting Naruto's beasts simply ride on top of the carriage was a lot more feasible than walking alongside.

Upon Naruto arriving at the modest camping site, the two Stalkers stopped whatever they were doing to look at the boy.

Naruto stared back, bracing himself for an possibility they may have become hostile.

The two creatures looked at one another for a moment before approaching the youth. Their movements were as unsettling as usual; not helping the boy to identify any aggressive intent.

Naruto's body tensed up as they got closer. His one human handed almost clutching the holster of his ninja weaponry. He was prepared to defend his small frame from any attack at a moment's notice. He had commanded and controlled these things long enough that he was confident that he would at the very least incapacitate them before they could cause any real damage.

Lady Orochimaru stood directly behind the youth; her own weapons of choice slowly sliding down the inside of her robe sleeves in preparation to defend her beloved student. She could practically feel the boy's nervousness as his, possibly, once loyal beasts approached. It was never easy to kill, let alone a kill a friend you've known for so long. As far as the woman knew, Naruto could have always had some sort of connection to the dead/undead ever since that entity had been sealed within him.

The Stalkers noticed the boy's tension and gave each other looks right before approaching Naruto.

Not a soul moved for what felt like minutes.

Eventually, one of the Stalkers moved a tad closer and gently pressed the top of it's head against Naruto; a concerned series of clicks echoed out from within it's skull.

Naruto's entire body relaxed and he nearly felt like his legs were about to give out from under him. He was so worried that he had lost control of his undead creations. The fear that he would come home to a rotting village had overwhelmed him to the point where even if his Stalkers had attacked him; he would not have been able to defend himself in the slightest.

The woman behind him was still a little tense. She had studied the various forms Naruto's undead could take, and the Stalkers were good at using tricks and teamwork to kill their prey. This could simply be one of their ruses to have them lower their guard. The fact that they left the carriage driver alone did not mean anything in her eyes.

"Looks like I'm still in control." Naruto gave a heavy sigh of relief while gently patting the head of one of his creatures.

Lady Orochimaru was not as quick to drop her guard and did not even acknowledge the boy's words. If the entity sealed within him was displeased with it's host, then there was no telling what it would do to the boy. It already has his mind so close to breaking that the woman doubted it would take too much more to shatter it completely.

The worst part, was that it was completely unknown what would happen to Naruto if his mind did break.

Would he become a hollow husk that did nothing until he eventually passed and was reborn into one of the many undead? Or would he go completely deranged and start truly believing that the thing inside him was a real god? Would he go on an unstoppable killing spree, or become the perfect tool?

They really needed to find her teammates, and fast.


	23. Chapter 23

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 23**

* * *

While Naruto was off having his adventure; Hinata was currently having one of her own.

Unfortunately it was really only considered an adventure if you where of royal blood. Being that it was nothing more than a big fancy gathering of some of the rich that the village held.

It was at one of the few massive estates located just barely inside of the border of the village. Far enough away to not have to deal with the common folk, but close enough to flaunt their massive wealth. Also, they were just far enough that the undead plague never bothered to wander to.

Hinata's presence at such an event was not simply due to her being the heiress of one of, if not the, most powerful clans in the village; if not the entire nation. But was also her duty as a shinobi of the village; mainly since her team had been assigned guard duty for the event.

Her team was to mix in and blend with the crowd and keep an eye out for any possible assassins. Not exactly the task that a genin team was usually sent out for. But the fact that the mansion itself had its own well trained security force, the chances of her team seeing any action was slim.

That was perfectly fine for Hinata, who had no desire to fight without her Naruto present to witness her strength. She was still feeling a little down about him being so far away.

Both Hinata and the team leader, Kurenai, had gotten all prettied up for the event; though as of right now, neither had seen the other.

Hinata wore a light layer of make-up since putting on too much always made the girl feel like her face was dirty. It was just enough to accent her development into a beautiful woman. Something that she could not wait to happen. The elegant, light blue ball-gown that the Hyuuga wore did nothing to distract any wandering eye from her beauty.

She and her other knew that by then, no mater how things were right now, Naruto would be all over her in all of the best ways possible.

Speaking of her other, La-Rn had decided that she too would come along with Hinata; just to witness such a unique human gathering. It was a strange sight for the extra-dimensional being.

Such a large room to be used for no other purpose but for the entertainment of guests? No other purpose? So strange.

Humans were an oddity in and of themselves to the creature. But this was just something different entirely.

The room that the event was being held in was large enough for La-Rn to stand completely inside comfortably. So bizarre for such small being to build such massive rooms when something so much smaller would suit the situation just fine.

Hinata glanced up from her position; standing patiently near one of the well decorated windows, and could not help the small smile of mirth from forming on her red lips.

Seeing La-Rn so confused while so intrigued was kind of finny to the young Hyuuga. For such an ancient and powerful being to act like a curious child; there was simply something cathartic about it all.

A well dressed older man suddenly approached the young girl; hand out in an offering to dance. Hinata responded with a kind smile but declined as politely as humanly possible.

She still had a duty to keep on the defensive and dancing would present too much of a distraction. Also, the man was a bit too old for her taste.

The man gave a respectful smile before moving on towards another woman. Hinata gave a sigh of annoyance. The party had just started and already he had been asked to dance or mingle with nearly a dozen different people.

"Well look at you." A friendly voice caught Hinata's attention. She turned her head to see her instructor sauntering over.

Kurenai cleaned up rather nicely, wearing a long red dress that left very little to the imagination. Shoulders exposed and a nice long slit running all the way up to the thigh, coupled with the very low neckline caused more than just a few head to turn. Hanging out with Anko must really be having an effect on her if she was confident enough to wear that. Her face was all prettied up and her hair was actually straight for once.

The woman walked over next to her student, smiling all the while. "You really live up to your tittle as 'princess of the Hyuuga'. Just as beautiful as the name would imply"

Hinata's face became a bright red at the praise. Despite the confidence she had gained over the years around Naruto, as well as her bonding to La-Rn; the young woman still did not have the highest opinion of her own physical features.

Maybe she would be more beautiful covered in Naruto's hot love?

Now her face was red for a whole other reason.

"Th-thank you." She smiled sweetly in return. "But I am nothing compared to you, Kurenai-sensei. You look amazingly beautiful."

The nearly constant soft moaning of La-Rn's many voices suddenly became more noticeable as Hinata could feel the creature lower her head down lower to the pair. Knowing that beauty would attract her love; she had become very interested in things that humans regarded as cute, pretty, or beautiful.

Hearing her other and the older human female use such words drew the monster's attention and she began to study every physical aspect of the pair as they exchanged words.

"Notice anything yet?" Kurenai's tone was dead serious, but her expression was just as kind and mirthful as when she greeted her student.

"No ma'am." Hinata responded while pretending to giggle at a joke that was never told.

"No signs of trouble on my end." Kiba's voice came from the tiny earpiece both woman hid behind their hair.

"Nothing to report." Shino stated in as dead a tone as usual.

So far, so good. All of the attendants arrived without issue and the festivities were going about as normal.

That still did not mean that Hinata and her team could relax. Now that the party had started, anyone that wanted to cause a lot of damage would do so while the festivities were going on.

Hinata and Kurenai were to keep an eye open from the main hall as attendants, while Shino and Kiba walked around as servants. With two stationary beauties and two roaming eavesdroppers; any verbal hints of any potential trouble would easily be detected.

Having the Hyuuga eyes, Inuzuka strong sense of smell, and the Aburame insects, did not hurt either. The group had decided to replace the mansion owners usual guard dogs with Kiba's own family's breed as well as place several hundred of Shino's special insects all over the compound.

Not a soul was going to get into the place without at least three well trained genin and one terrifying jonin knowing about it.

The two women continued to talk for a bit before another man came up, asking Kurenai for her hand this time.

She was about to decline, but quickly decided that she might as well enjoy herself while she had the chance. She took the gentleman's hand and was lead out into the center of the large room where a large number of people danced to the orchestrated music.

Hinata continued to stand at the one spot; bored but still showing the same soft expression that a woman of her standing was expected to have. She was representing the entire Hyuuga clan at the moment. So appearance was everything.

Eventually, the constant barrage of men asking for her hand started to annoy the young girl. She was about to go sit down at one of the exquisitely set tables that surrounded the dance hall when a voice caught her off guard.

"Hello, miss." Shino's dull voice came from just out of view. Hinata did her best to try and hide her surprise.

The insect using ninja was dressed in a well-pressed suit and had a tray full of expensive looking drinks in one hand. His glasses had to be taken off for him to fulfill his role, and Hinata still found the look of a glassess-less Shino to be strange.

"Hello, Shino." Hinata responded with a smile. "I hope you and Kiba are not being overworked." She said in a concerned tone. "I am sorry that you had to be but into such a position while Kurenai and I are socializing."

"It is for the sake of the mission." Shino stated. "I accept that and understand that whatever discomfort I feel is a small sacrifice for the end goal." He turned his head back slightly, looking in the direction of the door where the staff came in and out of the main room from.

"Though." He paused for a moment. "I don't think Kiba is feeling quiet the same."

"Oh dear."

"He has not taken his role in this mission very well." Shino gave an annoyed sigh. "He proclaims that he should be out here mingling since he is the son of the Inuzuka head. He has been causing quiet a mess back there as well."

Hinata gave a raised eyebrow. The team was meant to be undercover; Kiba acting out would easily blow their cover and any hopes they might have of finding a potential assassin.

"He refuses to settle his hair down as well as being unable to grasp the proper etiquette that one is expected to present in such an event."

Hinata held back a very tired sigh. That sounded like the expected behavior of Kiba.

Many had compared he to Naruto back in the academy. Both were boisterous, head-strong, and stubborn. And neither were particularly fond of one another. Now, that does not mean they hate each other. The simple fact is; they act so much like the other that they find the other annoying. Understand? Simple.

The two were so often compared to the other that they appeared to be competing more against each other than anything else during any kind of physical exam. It was hoped by all that once the two had graduated and put on different teams that whatever petty rivalry they shared would end.

And it appeared that it had, for the most part.

Hinata could only see the slightest of similarities between the two, but that was it. She could never compare anyone to her dearest Naruto. No one could compare to her dearest Naruto.

And if anyone even so much as tried, Hinata would make sure they would fail in the most painful way possible. Maybe it was time she told Kiba.

His affection for the Hyuuga was beyond obvious for everyone around them; and he was surely going to make an attempt at her heart at this get-together.

A cloud of malice had formed over the young Hyuuga; her thoughts and apparently unsettling facial expression made Shino feel a little more uncomfortable than he already was.

"I think I will go check on Kiba once again." Shino wisely decided as an uncharacteristically sadistic grin formed on Hinata's face. The girl had been acting very strangely ever since the Chunin exams and Shino has been racking his brain as to why.

She had become a lot more forceful during their training as well as has been seen to explicitly ignore several of her families orders; all the while still retaining that same sweet demeanor she was well known for. She did have random bouts of what could best be described as insanity.

If anyone remotely mentioned Naruto's name, the girl would focus every ounce of her being on what was being said. And woe be whomever decided to badmouth the boy, as the young Hyuuga was sure to deliver a swift and righteous punishment befit of the insult.

Her father had heard of her actions and had man an attempt to scold his daughter for her actions. His words were left unheard as her concern for anything he had to say in regards to her love for Naruto did not concern the girl one bit.

Despite her sudden change in attitude she was still Hinata Hyuuga, the princess of the most powerful clan in the entire village.

Hinata saw her friend leave and gave a small wave as he vanished within the crowd; secretly hoping that Kiba would come along so that she could give the boy a very _stern_ 'talking to'.

Once again, Hinata was left alone with her massive demon. The party was boring. Not a thing had happened and there had been no signs of anything happening.

This entire mission was turning out to be a massive waste of time. She was about to go find a place to sit down when La-Rn's sudden movement caught her attention.

The gigantic being was swiftly moving her head from side to side, as if searching for something that was just barely out of sight. Her movements became suddenly very frantic with anything that she 'touched' during her thrashing about, feeling very uneasy.

Hinata wanted to try something, anything, to calm her other half down; as she too was beginning to feel overwhelming panic start to rise up within her. The worst part being she had no idea why.

"...L-Lover..!" La-Rn shouted while looking down at her other half; her tendril-wings and the nest of them behind her head waving around frantically.

The message was clear; something was going on with Naruto that neither girl was going to like. But what it was and how Hinata could be of any help was unknown to her.

"...Plague...hurt...Lover...!" La-Rn screamed at the top of her lungs. The entire building shook violently as her sudden anger washed over everything coating the entire building in a miasma of complete and total despair.

The music instantly died and a majority of the party attendants fell to their knees. Complete hopelessness filled the room with several more people suddenly burst into tears of absolute depression.

Some of the more optimistic people tried to fight off the feeling only for it to eventually take them over; destroying whatever happy thoughts or feelings they may once have had.

La-Rn continued to thrash about a moment more before stopping all movement all together suddenly.

The empty inside of her strange skull began to glow a brilliant purple as all six of her arms shot out straight; all in different directions and every one of her tentacles standing as straight as possible. She stood still like this for just a moment before each arm began to appear to fade away; leaving the creature to resemble some sort of spiky alien worm.

"Must...Save..." Her voices were soft. "Lover...Mine..."

The overwhelming depression that had swept over the entire party vanished almost instantly. Everyone slowly began to regain themselves. A large number of the participants began to leave after experiencing the overwhelming sensation; fearing that it might have been an attack by some unknown master of illusions or emotional manipulation.

Needless to say, the party had ended. More and more folks began to file out of the large home and make their way back to their homes. All the while, the home owner was trying everything he could to make people stay just a little bit longer.

No matter what promises or bribes he tried, the experience had shaken everyone down to their core and no one was willing to spend anymore time than was necessary inside _that_ house.

"Hinata?!" Kurenai called out over her hidden earpiece while pushing her way through the slowly shuffling crowd. "Shino?! Kiba?! Report!" She was careful not to shout while still making herself loud enough that her team would be able to hear her even if they were caught up in the mess of people.

"The staff are leaving just like the guests." Shino stated.

"Yeah." Kiba's voice finally could be heard. "Whatever the heck that was seemed to have really shook everyone up. Nobody is willing to stay here any longer than they need to."

Kurenai was silent for a moment.

"My dogs don't smell a thing." Kiba announced. "But they felt it too."

"Same for my insects." Shino injected. "Whoever caused this must already have some information on us to be able to avoid all of our abilities."

All three were silent for a moment.

"No contact with Hinata." Kurenai announced while she pushed aside a rather panicked looking old man and his young escort.

"I have not heard form her." Shino quickly said over his earpiece.

"Me either." There was a momentary pause. "Damn it! Will you people move!?"

Suddenly, there was a serious of loud screaming coming from the direction Hinata was last seen. The screaming was quickly followed by people beginning to panic in an effort to leave the building.

"Looks like we have a target." Kurenai said. "Come to me, I will be engaging the instigator on the dance floor."

A slightly dimwitted chuckle could be heard coming from Kiba's communicator.

Kurenai ignored it before leaping straight out of the screaming crowd and onto the nearest table. She began to leap from one to another to reach her destination.

She easily found it due to the area now being completely cleared of people. However, the seasoned warrior balked at what awaited her.

Standing right in between two tables stood a tall feminine figure that just barely held the basic shape of a human. The creatures entire body was purple-like shade of blue and was facing away from Kurenai.

All six of its arms were jointed at varying places and each was long enough that even with the creature's height, the palms of each hand could easily reach the floor. Each hand ended with eight clawed fingers.

The being's legs were not much different. Multi-jointed and clawed just like the arms.

It's spine was completely visible and the creature's skin was pulled so tightly against it's body that every texture of it's bones and very limited musculature could be easily seen. As well as a nest of writhing tentacles coming out of the back of the creatures neck and head. Two much thicker tentacles sprouted from the back of the creature's shoulders and curved over.

Since the creature was facing away from her, Kurenai decided to take the stealthy approach. She reached down and took off the loud high-heels she had worn to the party before slowly climbing off the table.

She immediately crouched down. One of her hands reach up under her long dress to a weapon holster that the young woman was forced to put in a dangerous place just to hide it.

Kurenai pulled out a single kunai knife and began to slowly approach the creature. The closer she got, the more unnerved she became.

Eventually, she was able to hear a sound coming from the beast. At first, she thought it was simply the sound of it breathing; but listening harder revealed to be the sounds of sobbing.

Sobbing was a good indicator of having a mind, aka, being able to thing; thus potentially being able to communicate.

Kurenai was still careful and hesitant on her approach. Just because it was crying did not mean that the creature was friendly. Being capable of thought and rationality also meant being capable of deceit.

Now the woman was caught between two potential actions.

She could either strike now while the creature was turned away and possible incite the wrath of a being with unknown capabilities.

On the other hand, if the trained shinobi were either remain silent or attempted to approach the creature with honest intent, than she would miss the element of surprise should battle be a necessity.

Kurenai really hated situations like this and kinda' wished that someone else would be able to approach the creature just so that she would not have to deal with the possibility of starting an issue that could have easily been avoided.

The only thing she could do right now was to get as close as possible to be able to strike should the need arise, while at the same time staying just far enough away to not be perceived as a threat.

As if to answer her prayers; Kiba suddenly came rushing in; as loud as humanly possible. Shino was right behind him, but had the common sense to let his more dimwitted teammate take the brunt of whatever his brash actions would cause.

"We're here sensei!" Kiba shouted, running forward while throwing a trio of kunai at the standing monster.

"Kiba wait!" Kurenai shouted way too late, as the weapons were already sailing towards their target.

The creature stopped it's sobbing almost instantly and easily deflected the weapons with a swipe of one of it's bony arms; taking the opportunity to turn and face it's attacker.

Now, they could get a good look at the creature.

It's stomach was completely open and bare to the world; constantly pulsing and twitching in unnerving ways. A surprisingly large pair of breasts were firmly in place upon the creature's chest...because the author has a monster girl fetish that will never be satisfied...

Besides the massive love hills, the rest of the creature looked as emaciated from the front as it did from the back.

It was at the head where things got really bizarre. She had no eyes at all and instead appeared to have strange fungal growths of varying coloration covering the top portion of her head. The mouth was another mass of much much smaller tentacles; much too small to really wrap around anything individually, but long enough to be able to move an interact with anything that might be heading towards the possible jaws hidden within.

The two tentacles that arched over her shoulders ended in two eel-like heads. Each with eight yellow eyes on each side of each head. Both head massive mouths that reached well past their heads and were each lined with thousands of needle-like fangs.

Overall, the creature would not be one that could easily be described as 'attractive' by most.

Upon seeing the full detail of the beat, both Kiba and Shino skidded to a complete halt while at the same time pulling out their own weapons.

"The Hell is that?" Kiba glared at the monster that had ruined his chance to, not only mingle with the high brow folk of the village, but impress Hinata with just how good he looked in a suit. With his chance for a romantic dance with Hinata ruined, Kiba was none too delighted to see the monster that caused the removal of the possibility of such a happy event from occurring.

The creature faced the young pair for a moment; almost as if it was in shock that there were actually other living things in the area.

"Don't move a muscle!" Kurenai ordered. She ever so slowly stood from her crouched position so as not to appear threatening.

The creature appeared to catch the slow movement as it turned it's strange head towards Kurenai. It stared at the woman for a moment before jumping in a manner strangely similar to how one would when coming to a realization.

One of the monster's hands curled up into a fist and gently pressed itself in between her breasts as she took a step forward; other hand held out towards Kurenai.

"Help." Three different voices spoke all at once, from all three heads.

Kurenai had to resist the urge to take a step back away from the outstretched hand. This creature had now shown real intelligence and was asking for assistance. Now she needed to determine exactly what the being's goals were.

"Help. Please!" The monster begged while taking another step closer to the adult woman.

"Stay were you are." Kurenai warned. She could almost hear the sounds of her students hearts beating. They had no idea what to do in a situation like this and were trusting that she would be able to take care of it. She could not risk her students getting hurt by any possible mistakes. Kurenai needed to choose her words carefully.

Thankfully, the creature stopped it's attempt at reaching for the jonin. But it appeared to show confusion in it's actions.

"Please. Help." All three heads begged again.

"They must help us." One of the secondary heads spoke more clearly.

"Our love is in danger from the wrath of the plague." The other continued. "His life must belong to us."

"Who are you?" Kurenai asked while ignoring the creature's pleas. She needed to assess the potential hostility of the being before agreeing to help it with whatever it was talking to itself about.

"That does not matter." The creature responded, showing that it actually understood what it was saying instead of just repeating human language. "Our love is in danger and needs help. Our other might not be strong enough to fight off the Plague."

The creature's voice was desperate. She once again tried to reach for the human woman.

"I said stay right where you are!" Kurenai ordered while brandishing her weapon. "Who are you? What are you? Why are you here?" She needed answers to all of these questions before she could even consider helping this thing.

"Sensei?" Kiba questioned. Things were tense. Really tense. He trusted his teacher to handle the situation, but at the same time hated that he felt completely useless. He knew that with just the smallest twitch of his hand and the nearly silent clack of his teeth, every one of dogs stationed at this manor would come running and prepared to attack the strange monster.

The being appeared to fidget a bit before responding to the female human. "We are what hates the plague. But loves our love." A purple hue began to spread over the creature as two of it's hands came up to hold it's face. It began to wiggle it's hips from side to side and curl in on itself slightly; almost like how an embarrassed girl would act.

Kurenai just continued to stare at the odd creature. This thing was beyond strange.

Seeing that she was probably not going to get any better of an answer for what this thing was, Kurenai decided to focus more on the tertiary question asked.

"Why? Are. You. Here?" Kurenai put infuses on ever last word just to insure that the monster understood her.

The creature stopped it's school-girl-like behavior and turned it's attention back to the woman. "Help." It stated once again. "Help our love fight the plague."

"What plague?" Kurenai asked. If there was the chance that this thing was linked to some sort of unknown biological attack upon the village, then she needed to get all the information possible out of it. Now more than ever.

The creature tilted it's head. " _The_ plague." It stated again as if the answer was the most obvious thing ever. "The plague that afflicts all and hurts our love."

"Wh-what?" Kiba finally spoke up. This whole conversation was going nowhere and the creature's strange way of talking was starting to make his head hurt. "What are you even going on about? Nobody is sick and there is no one here that needs any help." He swiped his arm around to show that the four were the only ones still in the massive hall.

The creature turned it's attention to Kiba. It moved its head in a similar manner one would use when taking a good look at another person's physical appearance.

Kiba turned a bit defensively. "What is it?"

The creature put it's lower pair of arms on it's hips. "You will never get with us. Stop trying. We belong only to our love."

Kiba's expression was one of complete confusion and flabbergast.

Shino was raising an eyebrow at his teammate. Sure, he was into Hinata and there was no hiding that he was attracted to her large chest; but to think he would fall for something barely even resembling a human just because it had a nice pair of tits was something Shino was not at all prepared for.

Kurenai, in turn, gave her student an incredulous look. Not only did he know this creature already, but he was physically attracted to it. She was about to go off on the poor kid before realizing that she may or may not have had some fantasies of her own about certain demons of illusion that looked less than human. Her friend, Anko had confided in her similar desires about other entities that walked this strange Earth. So her students attraction really was not that strange compared to some others out there.

At least he wasn't trying to fuck one of the killer corpses. That would be pushing it.

Kiba quickly looked from his teammate to his teacher and back again. "I've never seen this thing before!" He shouted defensively. "This is my first time just like all of yours!"

Kurenai continued to shoot her student a look before returning her gaze back at the creature.

"Ok." She started. "So your a thing that has a love of some sort. Hates a plague we know nothing about. And is asking for our help saving this love of yours?"

The creature nodded enthusiastically. A pair of her arms clasped together in front of her. "Please, help our love. He struggles with the plague." Her twin eel-like head reached forward and continued begging as the main one waited for a reply.

"Why should we trust that you need our help?" Kurenai responded with an obvious question. "You still haven't given us a straight answer, and as far as we know could just be trying to trick us." She glared at the creature before her eyes slowly began to narrow. "You could very easily be a trick by the Stone or Grass villages." She muttered.

This was something the seasoned warrior had not considered and felt very naive for having not done so. This monster could very easily be a demon or summoned entity by the aforementioned village, or any other hostile party designed to take advantage of the village's currently weakened state.

The creature's tentacles suddenly jutted out and all of its hands held themselves out in a display of showing no ill intent. "No, no, no. We are a friend. We are from this place. Why would we harm it?"

Kurenai just continued to glare at the beast.

This entire exchange had been one confusing word after another. Nothing had made sense and Kurenai's trust in her earlier suspicions started to become more and more justified with each vague answer the creature gave.

Despite how annoyed she was becoming, Kurenai knew that outright attacking the strange thing was still out of the question. It at least did not appear to be directly hostile and it was clearly pleading for help with something.

But what could she do? Without a clear and sensible answer, the older woman was incapable of decided if attacking the monster would be a just action or not.

She was stuck.

The room was silent for what felt like hours as everyone stood around tensely; waiting for someone to either say something or make any sort of move. Fingers twitched as they moved towards holstered weapons.

Suddenly, the creature's head shot upwards; as if something on the ceiling had just caught it's attention. It stared up for several long seconds before it's entire body appeared to slowly relax.

It placed a hand on it's chest, as if to calm a beating heart, before once again facing Kurenai.

"No need to worry." It's multiple voices were now much calmer. "Our other took care of our love. Our love is safe now." It turned to the only available exit. "Bye-bye now."

"Hold on!" Kurenai shouted. "You are not going anywhere until I get the answers I want to hear!" She shot her students a quick look and they gave a nod of understanding in return.

Shino threw his arms out and a massive cloud of his insects came forth from his sleeves. The swarm circled around the group and created a living curtain that was designed to not be crossed.

Kiba brought a hand up to his mouth and let out a piercing whistle. Seconds later, about a dozen of specially bred and trained ninja hounds had burst through the insect cloud and quickly formed an even tighter circle around the group.

The three team members formed an even tighter triangle formation around their target. Each was curious as to where their final teammate had gone. They had gone through this whole annoyance without hearing a word from her and were starting to come to the conclusion that this _thing_ might have done something to her.

"Now." Kurenai said while holding both of her hands up; lowly going through a series of hand signs. "I want you to give me a direct answer to my questions, or else we will have you detained and we will _force_ them out of you."

She was done playing around. She was not going to let this thing just up and leave. It was going to talk here and now or else be forced to by a very well trained torture technician in one of the villages many interrogation rooms.

How does one torture and punish a strange fungus beast anyway?

The creature quickly looked back and forth at everything surrounding it. "We don't want to fight. We only want our love to be free from the plague." She tried to explain. "Our love is safe now so we are going to leave. We do not need help."

"There is clearly a miscommunication between us." Shino stated while insuring that the creature did not make it past him or his insects.

"Not like that matters." Kiba huffed. He was already in his bestial form and was raring for a scrap. He was going to make this mushroom freak pay for causing him such a headache as well as humiliating him about just how fantastic her massive tits were...

"Talk!" Kurenai ordered harshly. She finished the hand seals and the world began to twist and distort around the group. It was a simple technique designed to confuse and disorient an opponent. A basic level ability that was now being enhanced by the cloud of insects and circling dogs; created terrifying illusions.

"What. Are. You?!"

The creature tilted it's monstrous head in confusion. "You are all not pleased that my love is safe? Why? My love is great and fills us with such joy. I love our love."

"Just how many are you?" Kiba groaned in annoyance. "You keep saying 'We' or 'I'! Just pick how crazy you are already!"

"Why are you all so unhappy? We just asked for help. Did you not want to help? Did we offend by asking for help?" The honest sincerity in her voices was almost heartbreaking. It almost made even Shino second guess his actions.

The creature struck a thinking pose. It tapped it's cheek.

"We know a way to make you all happy. Even if my love does not need help anymore. We came to you for help and we will reward you with something that will make you happy." Her strange way of talking was beginning to be a bit uncomfortable for everyone else.

The strange growths covering the top of the creatures head began to move and wriggle around. A strange yellow cloud began to form from within the unique mass.

"What are you doing!?" Kurenai shouted in a panic. For all she knew this could be terrible attack the creature was preparing. She needed to protect her students!

"Stop!" The woman shouted while charging towards the creature.

The second her foot left the ground, the entire upper part of the creatures head exploded into a massive yellow cloud. The cloud quickly spread all over the area with the force of its bursting forth being enough to push all three human and all of the animals back at least a few feet.

The animals instantly fled from the attack, leaving the three humans trying to get back onto their feet; all the while coughing as the strange pollen filled their lungs.

"You all be happy now." The creature said in a very sweet tone before turning away from the coughing trio and calmly walking out of the room.

Kurenai made a desperate attempt at reaching for the monster only for her coughing fit to pick up and force the woman back to her knees.

The second that she touched the ground; her entire body suddenly erupted in a wave of almost painful heat.

The woman's breathing almost instantly returned to normal only to switch to a hard pant not a moment after. She found herself curling in on herself as she felt her body get warmer and warmer.

Every single inch of her skin felt sensitive. She lightly pressed both of her hands on the floor and could not hold back the nearly silent moan from escaping her flush lips. Just the slight movement her clothing made upon her skin was started to cause an all too familiar haze to swirl within her mind.

"You have to calm down." Kurenai whispered to herself, still starting hard at the floor beneath her. "Focus." But the sudden burst of arousal within her would not allow it. She needed to calm down. She needed to ignore the growing heat in between her legs. But her mind would not let her.

She tried her best to steady her breath by doing a few short deep breathing exercises. None of them worked. Her arousal just kept increasing more and more.

She still made an effort to stand, only to have the faint movement of her outfit brush up against her breast.

The feeling was unlike any the woman had ever had before. Pleasure shot through her so hard she saw white for a few seconds as pleasure tore through every last nerve. Her nipples hardened instantly and were trying their best to push away the pesky bra that dared to confine them and the heavenly globes they were attached to.

Kurenai had to fight the almost unbearable urge to just rip the dress away and to feel the cool indoor air upon her burning skin. She had to focus. She had to.

She tried the breathing exercises again and realized upon finishing the second one, that she was currently kneeling in a pool of her own sweat and the arousal that had trailed down her legs.

To be honest, she wasn't surprised. Considering just how phenomenal it was to just have a bit of cloth rub her tits; there really shouldn't be a surprise that she gushed like a geyser.

 _'She needed to get out of these fucking hot clothes!'_ She thought as she tore away the top of the dress; exposing her bare breasts to the world.

"What the fuck did that thing do to me?" She could feel another wave of pleasure wash over her and could see the puddle expand around her. There was no doubt that her dress was a soaked wreck and her underwear was practically falling down her shapely thighs; weighed down by how much love juice had poured from her tight tunnel.

The woman curled her hands into tight fists; forcing her nails to dig deep into her skin. Anything to keep her focused off of the insatiable burning within her loins.

She risked a glance to her two students; fearing what her eyes may witness.

Her fears were unfortunately true. Kiba was currently leaning back with his outfit completely open; both of his hands gripped tightly around his cock and pumping for all he was worth. Sweat dripped from him as he panted as hard and fast as a wanting mutt.

Shino was barely fairing any better than Kurenai. He had made it to his knees and was trying to keep his cool, but the movement of his hands within his jacket pockets betrayed his demeanor and revealed that he too was trying to relieve the uncomfortable pressure building up down below.

The older ninja could not help the sight of relief that escaped her lips. While it was unbearably awkward that there were two young boys openly masturbating right close to her; at least they were not trying to force themselves on her while she was in such a vulnerable state.

She honestly had doubts that she would even try to fight them off if they tried.

Unfortunately, seeing the two boys working themselves over just caused Kurenai's arousal to somehow get even worse. She brought a hand up to one of her exposed breasts and ran all five fingers over the soft orb; each digit flicking at the hardened nub right at it's center.

She just could not fight it anymore. Her other hand ripped away enough of the bottom of her dress for her to gain easy access to her hotbox. She tore away the soaked cloth that was her underwear before plunging two fingers as deep as they could into her love canal.

A heavy moan ripped itself from her throat as she was finally able to alleviate at least a little bit of the pain. And boy did it!

She nearly collapsed all the way to her back from the sudden feeling of relief and pleasure. It was nothing short of fantastic.

While this all was going on; Kiba furiously beating it, Shino discreetly trying to rub one out, and Kurenai fisting her dripping wet cunt, Hinata stood staring at the spectacle with the most mortified expression a human could possibly have.

Her hands slowly went up to her face as she watched on as her teammates gave in to their need. "What have I done?" The room reeked of sweat and hormones; and even with it's massive size, the air felt almost unbearably hot.

A loud moan shifted her eyes directly towards Kiba; who had finally reached his limit and was unleashing load after load of his white cream.

Shino soon followed. He had seen his younger teammate enter the room and had decided it best to turn the other way around. Still, he could not hide the grunt he made through tightly grit teeth as his too, unleashed all he had all over the expensive flooring.

Kurenai was still moaning up a storm as she had finally fallen onto her back and was now using both hands to plunge into her tight soaked hole. Her hips moved obscenely as she tried force her fingers as deep as they could possibly go.

Kiba and Shino had also noticed Hinata and were now too ashamed to even look in her direction. Kurenai, not so much.

Her lust-filled face instantly latched onto the young girl. Her tongue handing loosely out of her mouth as the once mature and in-control woman had given it all up just to satiate the burning that would not end.

The older shinobi just could not take her eyes off of her younger female student. The horrified expression on her face filled Kurenai with an unimaginable amount of shame; while at the same time turning her on that much more. A part of her wanted the boys to watch too.

It was all Anko's fault! That woman constantly talking about terribly lewd and inappropriate things all these years must have finally messed with her brain.

She did not want the younger ninja to join in; though she also was not opposed to it, she just wanted to feel their young eyes staring hard at her slutty body.

Eventually; she was able to satisfy the burning sensation and was finally able to bring herself to orgasm. Thankful she had enough control not to scream out as her body spasmed uncontrollably and she was able to keep it down to just a loud grunt.

Her body seized up as a waterfall poured forth from her nether region and just added to the pool of sweat and drool underneath her. After what felt like hours, her orgasm began to fade and Kurenai finally completely collapsed to the floor and a hot, sweaty, panting mess.

Not a word was said as all three tried to catch their breath. Nor was anything spoken as they quickly made themselves decent and left the compound. There was not going to be any attack now. But there apparently was a new potential threat to the village.

Whatever that perverted demon might have been.

Just another beast that has decided to make the Village Hidden Within the Leaves its home.


	24. Chapter 24

**Living Decay**

 **Chapter 24**

* * *

 **"What you have done is unforgivable."** The massive monster heart spoke solemnly within Naruto's nightmare. Its voice held a deep sadness that Naruto had never heard before. **"To be associated with _them_." ** The words quickly shifted from remorse to such vile hatred that Naruto could feel his own body try to curl in on itself in an effort to hide.

 **"You were my prophet. The one that would spread my holy message across all of this world until all had turned."** Its voice had become solemn once again. That same remorseful tone echoed through Naruto's head, bouncing back and forth and growing in sorrowful feeling. **"Yet you have failed time and again to convert any and have even ordered the few I command here to cease in gathering material for my new body."**

The creature gave a solemn sigh as it came to terms with what it believed was the correct course of action. Its prophet was the only one capable of willingly reforming its body and had done so at such an abysmally slow pace that it would be eons before it would even get close to returning to even a fraction of its physical form.

Its other parts would have already have arrived before then.

A proper punishment had to be dealt.

 **"It pains me to do this, but I must punish you for going against me."** Its tone was still one of defeat. **"Until I see fit, you are banished from glorious convergence. You will no longer be able to join all other life on this world in the creation of my body."** It paused. While it needed to punish its host so that a lesson could be learned, it still did not wish for the host to truly die too early least it too were to cease to exist.

 **"It would not be becoming of a god such as I to allow my prophet to suffer; even if they are as disappointing as you. So I will still bestow my gift unto you shall harm come to you."**

* * *

Naruto woke up in his tent with a nearly dead expression.

"What was the point of that?" He mumbled as he slowly sat up. As far as he could tell, the Moon had just attempted to threaten him with what it was already doing. Maybe it thought that it actually was punishing the lad by doing it for a different reason; but either way, Naruto could not die a normal death.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before getting up and preparing for the day of travel. They had almost made it to their destination and Naruto was getting bored of being cooped up inside of that carriage. The daily training did not help any sense Lady Orochimaru refused to teach him in actual techniques until he had a full understanding of his rotten hand.

He had tried over and over to see if there was something buried deep within his mad mind that would tell him exactly what he could do with it; but to no avail. The secret remained locked. And with the Moon being upset with him, the prospect of asking it for assistance was out of the question.

The morning went as usual and the group gathered up within the cart to make for the last push of the journey. Just a few more hours of boring travel before finally arriving at their destination.

Naruto looked out the window in boredom as Lady Orochimaru busied herself with some sort of paperwork. Being the leader of an entire nation meant that a break was something that just did not exist.

The sun had reached its peak when Lady Orochimaru put her work aside and gave Naruto a serious look.

"We will be reaching the capital city in about an hour." She started. "I want you to remember that we are looking for my old teammate, Jiraiya." She pulled out a picture of the old man for Naruto to see. The boy did not say anything as he tried his best to memorize every detail of the man's features.

He had white spiky hair, that was for sure.

"He is an incredibly powerful ninja. He has enough strength to easily destroy any enemy of your village without breaking a sweat."

Naruto's head perked at hearing this. Clearly, the old man would have to be strong to have once been Lady Orochimaru's teammate. But to be powerful enough to potentially repeal an entire army? Maybe _he_ would actually be willing to teach Naruto a thing or too.

"He is also known as the worlds biggest pervert and has labeled himself 'The World's Number One Lady Killer'." Her voice was dead serious with every single word she spoke.

Naruto gave the woman an incredulous look.

"What?" Was the only response he could muster. He must have heard the woman wrong.

"He is a world class perv. Any chance he can, he will take to ogle a woman's body or feel her up in some way." She gave a disappointed sigh. "He honestly should be in prison for all of it; but he is simply too strong to be held in any." She looked Naruto dead in the eye. "He has made more than couple passes at the Fire Lord's own wife."

Naruto was now feeling a little unsure if this supposed super-pervert was as strong as he had been told. How could a powerful warrior act like such a fool?

"I can read your doubt. It's written all over your face." The woman stated plainly. "Rest assured. The man is powerful and should not be taken lightly should he ever enter a fight."

She glanced out of the window for a moment. "You may get a chance to see his power in action." She said while cocking an eyebrow towards the lad.

Naruto now did not know if the thought of being trained by such an infamous man was worth being associated with him. It was bad enough that he was labeled the 'Twisted Necromancer of Konoha'. But to also be labeled as the student of the worlds most powerful pervert? Was whatever training he could get really that much more worth it?

Naruto had time to ponder that question for just a little while longer before the horseman's knock signaled the groups arrival to the massive city.

The carriage stopped for just a moment so that the driver could hand over some paperwork to the city guards before continuing onward directly into the population center.

Naruto sighed as they traveled into the city, expecting nothing short than a complete panic when his undead bodyguards are noticed by the city folk.

He waited but heard no sounds of fear. Instead, besides the sounds of a busy city, Naruto heard murmurs, gasps and sounds of amazement directed towards the royal carriage.

No sounds of fear reached his ears as the cart continued to make its way through the massive city.

After only a few minutes did it finally come to a complete halt. Naruto risked a peak through the window to see a simple traditional inn.

"We have arrived." Lady Orochimaru announced in a positive tone. She continued to sit patiently as the carriage driver walked around and opened the door for her. Something that had not happened even once during the group's travels.

It was a simple display of power and authority. Something to show just how important of a figure and how unapproachable the woman was.

Lady Orochimaru stood from her seat, quickly patted herself down to make sure there were no wrinkles or dirt on her outfit, before slowly making her way out of the small vehicle.

Naruto could hear people gasping at the woman's beauty and appearance. Their voices held the utmost fascination and respect for the ruler. Though, Naruto was still confused why not a word was being said about the obvious monsters roaming around the carriage.

"What are you waiting for?" Lady Orochimaru's voice called to Naruto, who was still sitting in the carriage.

Initially, the boy thought that he was meant to stay inside of the carriage so as not to ruin the perfect image the people had of the woman.

He had forgotten that he was in s city that did not know him. Not a soul there knew if his nightmarish creations or what he was capable of; so they had no need to fear or react hostilely towards the boy.

He stood hesitantly before walking out of the carriage himself. There was a modest crowd surrounding the carriage. Most everyone knew of Lady Orochimaru with the few that did not being entranced by the royal outfit she wore and the pure elegance of the carriage she had arrived in.

Naruto tried to hide his monster hand by shoving it into his jacket pocket while stepping down from the carriage. Some folks decided to take notice of the boy and began to mumble among one another about who he was.

He could hear some of the things they said. An possible son, some orphan, and things along those lines. Occasionally a person would get the correct answer, him being a sort of apprentice. Though, some did think it strange that the well into her 50's woman was leading around a small boy. Even if he was meant to be learning from her.

No doubt whatever rumor-mill existed within the vast city was going to have a field day about the great Lady Orochimaru and her young shinobi lover.

None of that ever crossed Naruto's mind. Not a single word that was just typed up.

Instead, he was more focused on the lack of people screaming and running away from his monsters.

Usually, when they were ordered to, they would hide away from people and make sure that they were not seen. Naruto gave no such order, completely forgetting to.

He risked a glance backwards and almost tripped at what he saw.

Instead of his two playful nightmares walking around and exploring the new area, the pair had decided to climb a top of the carriage and hold onto it in a crouched position. This made both of them appear almost like a pair of terrifying statues.

The both sat there, completely unmoving without even the slightest order from their master.

Where they truly learning?

Had their limited minds grown enough to begin making assumptions about their master's will?

Was Naruto possibly over thinking this?

Mot likely.

No one even questioned their existence. Them being on top of the impressive vehicle must be sending some sort of message to the of the city. What that message was, Naruto had no idea.

"Naruto?" Lady Orochimaru called. The woman had made her way to the entrance of the modest structure before noticing that her young ward was not directly behind her.

A little disappointing. She would prefer if he was always hot on her heals and always ready to serve her every wish. The thought of little Naruto following right behind, ready at her beck and call put a smile on the older woman's face.

Her imagination started to go wild with the implications.

The boy was still pretty short. It would not be too farfetche'd to imagine him, after being well trained of course, slipping underneath one of her over-sized and lavish outfits as she paraded around the city, pleasuring her right in front of the entire populace and without a single soul noticing.

Or having him calm her down after an annoying political meeting. Or push him down on top of a lab table after a long night of research and experimentation.

The possibilities were endless. But only if he was trained properly. She didn't want to go to hard and make the boy hate her instead.

Naruto was a very fragile lad. He needed a gentle push, a soft hand, and a lot of time to be properly trained into being her property. And Lady Orochimaru was more than pleased to offer all of those.

Naruto quickly turned back around and lightly jogged over to the woman before the driver of the carriage opened the inn's doors for their pair and stepped aside to allow them both in.

The entire staff of the inn were lined up and all giving a low bow to woman as she walked past, Naruto hot on her heels. As he should always be.

Naruto was busy looking around at the rather uninteresting building and failed to notice the rather rotund man standing right in front of him and his current teacher for a little longer than a moment.

The man had an almost fatherly look about him, with his round-ish form and somewhat pudgy appearance giving off an aura of a caring father. This made Naruto wonder if one any of the inn staff were his possible wife or children.

The man gave a small speech about how honored he was to have Lady Orochimaru stay at his inn and a bunch of other stuff that bored Naruto nearly to tears.

It was not until the man said. "Now, I shall take you to your room, where I hope you will have a wonderful stay." That Naruto finally began to pay attention and once again followed Lady Orochimaru throughout the inn.

Any time a member of the staff was seen, they would instantly bow low and not stand straight until Lady Orochimaru had passed. Even knowing just how famous and powerful the woman was; seeing people act this was while he was around was quiet jarring.

It was just a short walk before the man stopped in front of a door, clearly Lady Orochimaru's room. Naruto did not have time to ask about where his own was before the kind man handed Lady Orochimaru the room keys and promptly left.

Naruto could only watch helplessly as the man left.

"Well, uh," He started. "I guess I'll be camping outsi-EEEEH!" His words were cut into a screech as he felt himself being suddenly yanked into the room Lady Orochimaru had just unlocked.

He was suddenly met with the woman's smile. "You will be sleeping in here." She said sweetly while keeping him turned towards her. "With me."

Naruto's face paled. This woman, while nice, was also drop-dead terrifying.

Now, at this point a large number of readers probably assume that Naruto is either uninterested in the obvious advances he has gotten at this point, or that he is too dense to simply not notice. The latter is more right than the former.

But the whole reason Naruto has refuse every possible womanly advance has not been due to lack of want. In face, Naruto really, really, _really_ would love nothing more than to dive head first into the soft creamy pillows of the much older woman he was currently traveling with.

But he had to hold off of those desires because of a fear that had planted itself within him soon after gaining his unholy power. It started when the Moon requested that he 'make' more bodies. Obviously that was to imply killing more, but Naruto caught a double meaning.

The Moon wanted Naruto to have children so that they too could be added to its monstrous future form!

Not only that, but Naruto was also fearful of what might happen to his partner should he eventually go through with the act. He did not know yet if any of his bodily fluids could effect the living and was afraid of what possible nightmares might be spawned from him accidentally making a mess with someone that just wanted to feel good.

Since the only woman that, he was consciously aware of, had some kind of sexual attraction to him was a legendary power-house of a woman; that fear of possible causing something worse than death to her ran through him nearly constantly.

Maybe she would back off a bit and give the kid some breathing room if he mentioned his fear?

Lady Orochimaru released her hold on the boy and allowed him to turn around and get a look at the room. There was nothing really special about the room. It was just a regular inn room with a single bed.

Nothing special at all.

"Um, where am I going to sleep?" Naruto asked while looking for a possible chair or couch he might have missed.

"I already told you." Lady Orochimaru said with a smile. "In here, with me."

Naruto stared at the woman for a moment. Did she honestly not understand what he was asking.

"I mean," He said with a slight tone of exasperation. "Where am I going to sleep since you will be taking the bed." Of course she was going to sleep in the bed. She was a girl; and if there was one thing that Iruka drilled into his thick skull, it was that girls were special and should be treated as such.

"In the bed." She responded as if it was the most obvious answer.

Naruto turned his confused gaze from the woman to the object in question. His mind quickly came up with a reasonable question.

"Why would we need to take sleeping shifts if we are in the city?"

Lady Orochimaru held her sleeve up to her face to hide her giggle. What a cute boy.

"We do not, my dear sweet little Naruto." She giggled softly. "We will be sharing the bed, together."

Naruto's reaction was instantaneous. His face became a bright red and his ability to complete a single sentence vanished completely.

"I told you that I was going taking you along on this trip to train you." She quickly continued while walking towards the bed. "That did not just include your undead abilities;" She turned her head slightly to give the boy a sultry glare. "But also in the powerful art of information gathering."

Naruto backed away slightly in a mix of embarrassment and fear. The boy's expression brought another giggle up from Lady Orochimaru's throat.

"Please do not give me that look, my little Naruto." Her voice was as calm and sweet, but lacked any hint of innocence. Her tone was completely adult, seductive and sensual.

"It is important for you to learn such skills." Her smile was a strange mix between the regular sweet and wicked. "It is clear to everyone that you are going to grow into a very attractive man."

Naruto's face brightened a tad more at the complement.

"And not all missions you will partake in are going to require the use of your creations. You are a ninja after all. Information gathering and covert operations are your primary missions; not all-out-war." She sat down on the bed, in a prim and proper fashion before suddenly leaning back and spreading her legs obscenely and glaring at the boy with lust filled eyes.

"And I doubt that the academy taught you anything about that."

In a flash, Naruto was out the door. Leaving the poor woman all alone to giggle and laugh at the boy's innocent reaction. It was kind of heart warming to know that the demon inside of him had not been able to take away all of the kid's innocence.

And to be honest; who would be a better teacher in educating the boy in the arts of intimate interrogation than herself? Nobody, especially that super perverted teammate of hers.

She continued to sit on the bed for a moment before another wicked smirk worked it's way across her face. Lady Orochimaru then stood up and sauntered over to the door before quietly clearing her throat.

"Come now, my little Naruto." She spoke through the door. "I would like for us to begin your lesson as soon as possible."

The sound of the boy stumbling and making a run for it down the hall brought another fit of giggles up from the woman's throat.

She quickly calmed herself before departing from the room and leaving the inn as well. Her previously mirth filled face was now completely serious.

"Naruto." Her tone had becoming completely business; spooking the boy that had taken to calming his young heart next to the inn's entrance.

"Come." It was not a request. This was a direct order.

Naruto did not hesitate to quickly follow in line with the woman. Her voice held no room for argument or discussion and he really did not want to make her woman was powerful enough to make the Hokage afraid; just imagining what she could do to him when pissed sent a cold shiver down his spine.

Maybe the Moon wasn't so bad in comparison?

Lady Orochimaru was sure to hold in her smile until the lad had gotten behind her. This was a good start in him becoming her toy.

Naruto followed Lady Orochimaru silently as she walked through the city. Her movements were calculated and exact. She knew exactly where she was heading. The gawking eyes and mouths of the populace were of no interest to her and thus Naruto decided it best to ignore them.

Though, the boy did still feel odd. This was the first tie in a long time that he was away from any of his undead monsters. He always had at least one with him at all times. Even one of the tiny Swarm was usually on his person somewhere.

Being in a brand knew and unknown location without his bodyguards about made the young Uzumaki feel more vulnerable than ever. Even if he did have the Legendary Orochimaru and the Moon protecting him. The thought that something might cause him harm made the boy feel an unease he had not felt in a good long time.

It took Naruto just a moment to realize where the woman was leading him.

The large number of city guards patrolling the area as well as the more extravagant and ritzy tipped the boy off. As well as the giant castle that the pair appeared to be getting closer and closer to.

The traditional structure was massive and was clearly meant to be visible for any who were even remotely close to the city, let alone those who lived within. A true testament to the power and wealth that the Land of Fire possessed.

The several hundred guards stationed all over the grounds and structure did not hurt the royal image of the castle one bit.

Just before the pair made it to the main entry way of the castle, Lady Orochimaru suddenly swiveled around on the balls of her feet and gave Naruto a controlling glare.

"You will do everything I say." She commanded; her tone leaving no room for argument. "You will act as proper as humanly possible. You will only speak win addressed and even then, you will only give direct answers." Her glare intensified. "Disobey any order, and you will be punished severely."

Naruto scowled at the woman's harsh words and opened his mouth to protest. Upon making the attempt to, however, Lady Orochimaru simply continued to stare down at the boy.

The glare held no fear of what he was or what he could do. She knew exactly how strong she was and was more than aware of how to not only kill Naruto, but nearly every last one of the creatures he had made, or could make.

One shared weakness. And she knew it.

Is she were the type, she could easily force Naruto to do anything she wished. She could have the entire world in her hands in less than a month if she so desired.

Luckily for the world, Lady Orochimaru had much more humble goals and would rather here status dictate her power as opposed to her skill as a ninja. Lady Orochimaru was never really much of a fighter; not because of her lack of skill, but because a lady with her beauty and elegance should never have to raise a hand to anyone. No matter who they were.

But she would if she was forced into unleashing all of her raw power.

Naruto promptly shut his mouth and gave a curt nod.

Pleased with the boy's response, Lady Orochimaru's visage instantly shifted back to her usual sweet and caring tone. "What a good boy you are." Almost as if she were talking to a dog.

Naruto resisted the urge to reply with a smart comment and just decided that looking away dissatisfied with the woman's sudden change in attitude.

Why she had gone from the scary, but kind, lady he had first met to this demanding dictator; Naruto could not understand. Or, at least he would not until the near future.

Lady Orochimaru approached the front gate and did not say a single word. She and Naruto were let into the castle ground immediately.

The woman walked with conviction. She knew where in the grand expanse of the castle she was and where she needed to go. Naruto just tried his best to remember all the turns they made while walking. Just a few corridors in and his head was already spinning.

He wanted to ask why they were there in the first place, but Lady Orochimaru's ordered echoed loudly within his skull.

Eventually, the woman came to a sudden halt in front of a set of door. Naruto, not paying any attention, bumped into the woman's rear and instantly got an ice cold glare in return.

He was going to be punished for that. He just knew it.

Without saying a word, Lady Orochimaru grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck, lifted him up one handed, and forced him back to the ground with enough force to instantly put him on his knees.

She pushed down harder until he was at a complete kneeling bow. He tried to protest, but the woman's strong grip held him down firmly.

Suddenly, the door slid open just a moment after Lady Orochimaru released her grip in the poor boy.

"Your Lordship." The Sannin said in greeting. Naruto snapped his head up to see the Daimyo and his wife sitting on the opposite side of a massive room. Soldiers armed to the teeth stood just a few feet apart all along the walls of the room.

The Daimyo and his wife were dressed as is appropriate for one with their standing, with each having a pair of vassals sitting at attendance on either side. All in all, the room was somehow backed full of people yet had more room than was necessary for any sort of business.

"Enter." The Lord of the country's voice boomed. A level of political power and influence Naruto had never felt before emitted from the Daimyo. The Hokage felt small-time compared to such a man. Even though both he and his wife had their faces obscured by the veiled headdresses they both wore; the glare of authority pierced right through it, and him.

Lady Orochimaru gave a short bow before giving Naruto a small motion with her hand to follow. The boy did so without hesitation.

The two walked along the polished floor before coming to a stop in front of two pillows situated in front of the podium that the ruler sat upon.

Without saying a word, Lady Orochimaru sat upon the soft cushion with Naruto doing the same on the other immediately after. The older woman beside him slowly leaned down in a respectful bow and just like earlier, Naruto did the same; mimicking the woman's every action.

The room was deathly silent.

Not a word was said for what felt like hours. Naruto could only stare straight forward. Something within him told him to behave; that acting out and strong headed was most likely going to get him killed real quick of not simply tortured or imprisoned.

Death had little meaning for him. But was everything for all other life.

Finally, after an eternity of silence, a side door to the room slide open with a bowed, wheelchair-bound man, on the other side. With him was a young female nurse who's job it was to push said wheelchair.

The man was wheeled into the massive room before he raised his head. His eyes met with Naruto's.

"You." Hi hissed. His knowledgeable eyes narrowing into angry slits.

Naruto recognized the man immediately. It was none other than the Grand Advisor and right hand man of the Lord of Land Of Fire. The very same man that tried to prevent Naruto from becoming a ninja because of the Moon inside of him.

Though, to be completely honest, Naruto really was not much of a ninja at all and barely did any actual ninja techniques. His awful, awful chakra control saw to that.

Still, this weasel of a man had made a deliberate effort in attempting to prevent Naruto from achieving his dream.

If Naruto had any real had within him for anybody or anything; it was this man. If this idiot's plan on turning Naruto into a civilian had come to fruition; than who knows how the Moon would have took it.

It would have mostly just shattered the boy's mind completely and just taken over all available dead flesh. Promptly kill all life. Then reform it's body.

All-in-all, a bad time for literally everything that is and ever will exist.

Doesn't mean Naruto was not pissed that the man tried though. The fact that the man was wheelchair bound did nothing to stop the urge to punch him square in the face from welling up from within the young Uzumaki. But the young boy knew better than to act on such an urge.

The Daimyo turned his head just enough to glance at his underling, but said nothing.

Said underling wheeled over to his position beside his lord; his scowl still firmly focused on the runt in front of him.

Once again, silence filled the room to the point of nearly choking out any possible sound that dared to enter.

The Lord turned his attention to Naruto. His steely gaze borrowing deep into him as he focused on every last possible detail of the lad. From the blind bright hair to the whisker-like marks on the young boy's face. Even the hand that the boy kept hidden within his jacket pocket.

But it was the eyes that the man focused on. The eyes always told what a person was really like. Look deep enough, and one can peer into the soul. He had been in this powerful position long enough to know every detail of a person, just by what he saw in their eyes.

Even with the boy's eyes transfixed in a harsh glare at his right hand man; the Daimyo could see the harsh life the young ninja had gone through.

Pain. That composed nearly everything the boy had as a past. Pain and terror. More than any sane man should be able to handle. Death and an enumerable amount of it has been seen by those young blue eyes. Along with something else that sent the faintest hint of a chill down the Lord's spine.

Insanity.

The boy's mind was broken. Shattered more than glass could ever be. Yet. Here he was. Sitting in front of the leader of his home and was not currently blathering nonsense or killing everything around him.

Something was holding that boy together. But what?

His eyes told of a select few that keep him here. A select few that grab on as he slides into darkness; holding him into the light for that much longer. But it looks like a few have given up. That there are a few that he may have held dear but have hurt him in turn.

That was all he needed to know about the boy. Delving too far into the youth's personal life would be getting to personal as well as possibly influence any future decisions he might make.

"Show me." The Daimyo's voice boomed.

Lady Orochimaru gave a short nod before glancing over at Naruto. "Show the Lord what you can do." She ordered, but still using that same sweet tone of voice that Naruto was fond of.

Naruto gave the older woman a confused look. He understood what she was asking, but there was no dead material around for any use. Before he could even contemplate how he was going to show his unique ability to the Lord of the Land of Fire; the irritating advisor decided to speak his opinion on the matter.

"M-My Lord." He quickly interjected. "As your most trusted advisor; I have to warn you that witnessing what this _child_ can do is a very poor decision."

The Daimyo shot his associate a nasty glare. "While I respect your opinion and take your words to heart; if what I heard about this youth is to be true, than we may have more pressing issues in the very near future."

"B-B-But! My Lord!" The advisor stammered. He was not used to his advise being ignored by the man.

"Silence." The Daimyo ordered forcefully, prompting his subordinate to stop all sound.

"Now then." He turned his attention back to Naruto. "Show me this power that can defeat an entire army. Show me this amazing ability to turn the dead into weapons of death. She me. What. You. Are."

Naruto swallowed hard, finding his mouth to be unusually dry. A dreadful thought had wormed its way into his mind. What if he did as the Lord asked, and his creation got out of his control; even for just a moment?

The repercussions of him killing the leader of the land would be immeasurable. There would be an all out war against his village if something like that were to occur. And who knows what would happen to the few friends he had.

"I can not, sir." Naruto clarified while trying to hide his worried expression.

"Are you disobeying the Lord!?"" The advisor shrieked. His face had gone completely red with rage and sweat could be seen forming on his brow.

Naruto had to fight back the urge to snarl at the pompous ass. Did it make him a bad person that he wanted to seriously hurt the paraplegic?

Maybe he should use him as a display of his power? The man would finally be able to walk again at least.

"Silence!" The man in charge shouted before, once again, shooting his advisor a nasty glare.

"M-My apologize, my Lord." The weaselly little man replied with a squeak.

The Daimyo returned his gaze back to Naruto. "Why are you unable to show me what I asked?" Genuine curiosity filled his voice, as opposed to the rage Naruto expected.

Naruto looked around nervously for a moment. Well, sir, there isn't enough dead stuff around for me to really make anything."

There was a pause.

"Ah, of course." The Daimyo mumbled. "How can I expect you to raise the dead if there are no dead to raise?" He chuckled lightly. "Then are you able to show me the things you have already made?"

Naruto risked another glance at Lady Orochimaru. The woman gave the boy a slight nod and Naruto did the same in return before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

A moment later he opened them and looked at the Daimyo. "They are on their way." He stated calmly. "I hope no one tries to stop them."

"Worry not." The aged leader started. "I already knew you were coming and was sure that all of the city guard were aware that attempting to attack any beast would meet a grizzly end."

Naruto stayed silent. The man was not wrong in the slightest.

Everyone waited patiently for Naruto's guests to arrive. The Daimyo had a level of excitement about him while his wife appeared to be trying to restrain herself from giggling at her husbands reaction. Sometimes he would still act like a child despite his age and it never failed to bring a laugh out of her.

Very unlike their daughter; who acted more like a princess was expected to.

That little rat of an advisor was fidgeting about, trying not to think about having one of those undead nightmares within the one truly safe place on this world.

A commotion had begun within the castle. It was clear that Naruto's guests had arrived, much to the dismay of the advisor and probably almost everyone else within the castle.

"You may want to open the doors." Naruto spoke up.

The Daimyo gave the order and the two soldiers nearest to the doors moved to open them just as the sound of multiple feet running down the hall reached the occupant's ears.

Before the door could even be opened, the nearby wall exploded as the two Stalkers leapt right through the wooden and paper structure. The two creatures landed and without missing a beat ran right over to their master, hooting and clicking all the while.

They had heeded their master's call and came running without a moment of hesitation. If their master had called then he must be in danger and the threat must be eliminated, no matter what.

The quickly ran to Naruto's side and began to slowly circle around the boy.

So many unknown non-corpses holding weapons that could harm their master. They had to be on top of their guard should any wish harm upon their master.

The Daimyo's wife let out a shocked gasp when the creatures burst through the wall and was covering her mouth with the sleeve of her robe to hide her expression of disgust towards the new beasts.

The advisor had nearly fallen out of his wheelchair. As if the one beast he had seen so long ago was not bad enough, now the boy had two that were completely different from that one. This was becoming worse and worse by the second.

"Astonishing." The leader was leaning forward as far as possible to observe the strange monsters that had invaded his castle. It took the man a quick moment to remember who exactly he was and to return back to his proper sitting position.

"So these are the things you can make?" He tried his best to hide his excitement. These beasts were an awe to witness. He could only imagine just what destruction and mayhem these creatures could generate if they were not kept in check. Or worse, ordered against his own people.

That was a thought he's rather leave forgotten.

"Yes sir." Naruto confirmed with a nod. The image of him sitting down and acting calm really did not go well with the two bringers of death circling around him.

"Are there more?" His excitement was almost palpable. With an army of the dead at his disposal, war would no longer be an issue. No more needless sacrifices would have to be made by his people just to defend their land from any outside forces. No more worry about clean up afterwards as well as the Daimyo was sure that any and all casualties would quickly be added back into his own army.

This boy was an asset like not other.

"More than you can count." Naruto replied emotionlessly.

The Daimyo sat in thought for a moment. "And you have complete control over each and every single one?"

"Yes sir." He paused for just a moment. "Until I get hurt; then there is nothing I can do to stop them."

"We should lock this thing up immediately!" The advisor finally decided to shout. He was quick to continue when his leader gave him another nasty glare. "W-We can not risk these things getting out of control and possibly tearing our nation apart. And who is to say that they will stop once we are all dead? They will go to the next nation and the next until the entire world is rotting!"

"If this boy has control over these things." The Daimyo responded. "What makes you think that he would not just send his horde to come rescue him? If he has the control he claims, than what is stopping him from doing all you said right now?"

"Th-that is why we need to lead a team specially designed to kill these things. We need to make sure that no more exist so guarantee this boy's imprisonment." The advisor quickly explained.

"And do you know how to kill these things?" The Daimyo shot back, his temper showing through his voice. He was tired of being questioned so much on such an asinine subject. The Hidden Village had not sent any word of help and messages still traveled to and from the place as well as a plethora of people. So there were no signs of the boy going wild and suddenly becoming an impossible issue.

"I would assume just like you would anything else, my Lord."

The older man gave a huff before returning his attention to the young boy. "Do you have any desires to abandon your home and betray your village?" He asked head on.

"My Lord!" The advisor shouted. "You can not honestly expect this child to answer you truthfully? His answer could change at any moment!"

"Not unless we give him a reason to!" The Daimyo raised his voice. "Now stay silent!"

He returned his attention to Naruto. "I ask again; do you have any desires to abandon your home?"

Naruto gave the man an honestly confused expression. Why on Earth would anyone assume Naruto had plans on leaving his home? Sure, there were people that were scared of him and treated him like the monsters he could make; but there were others that just saw him as the kid he was. There were also people within that village that saw him more than just another person, but as a friend and an ally.

Sure there was plenty bad about the place that Naruto did not really enjoy, but there was just as much good.

"No sir." Naruto responded with sincerity. "I love my home and the people around me. I would never dream of abandoning them."

"We can not trust this boy!" The advisor screamed.

"I said; be silent!" The Daimyo's temper had finally reached it's limit. "I have not forgotten your trip to this boy's village and your attempt at preventing his promotion; despite me specifically stating you were not to do so!"

He actually turned his head now and was looking directly at the wheelchair-bound man.

"The only reason you have not lost your job and been sent to your grave is because of all the past good you have done for me and this land. Do not push your luck any further." He warned.

The leader of the land had to take a deep breath to calm himself before returning focus to the two individuals sitting before him.

"I assume that simply showing me this boy's power was not your only reason for visiting." The man said, back in his calm tone of voice.

Lady Orochimaru gave the man a curt nod. "I was hoping that my past deeds for this nation as well as our two lands' unification might convince you in assisting with locating one of my past allies." A knowing smirk appeared on the woman's face. "I am sure you have heard of her, Tsunade."

Naruto gave the woman a confused glance. She had told the boy that her own network of spies and informants had told her the locations of her teammates. So why was she trying to get already known information out of the Daimyo?

Lady Orochimaru just continued to give the same smirk.

"Of course." The Daimyo said quickly. "I will be more than happy to help you locate your old friend. You needn't worry about anything for I can assure you that my men will be able to find her within a very short time."

"Meanwhile." He was quick to add. "You both are free to stay within my castle for as long as you like." His eyes darted to Naruto for just a moment. "Your pets may stay as well."

The sudden glare that the Daimyo's wife shot in his direct was cold enough that Naruto could swear he saw ice starting to appear under the woman's veil. Her vicious gaze quickly fixated itself onto the other woman before her. An unspoken warning was transmitted within her stare.

"As kind of an offer as that is." Lady Orochimaru was quick to reply. "We will have to politely decline your offer as we already have a place to stay for our short visit."

The Daimyo gave a nod of understanding. "It was a pleasure having you visit us, Lady Orochimaru. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to witness such a powerful new addition to my country's shinobi force." He gave the boy a soft smile.

Naruto felt a hand placed on the back of his neck and felt the not so gentle push of the woman next him forcing him to bow down.

"It was our pleasure." Lady Orochimaru returned his kind words before letting go of Naruto and standing. The boy quickly did the same.

Lady Orochimaru gave one final nod to the Lord before her, her young student, and his two pets left the meeting room; and soon, the castle itself.

"Why did you ask him to help us look for your other teammate if you already know where she is?" Naruto finally asked his teacher as the two made their way back to the inn.

Lady Orochimaru gave the boy a look for a moment. "Because, my dear Naruto, while I may have the best spy network in all of the many nations, they do not see everything. There is no shame in accepting help from others if you need it."

Naruto continued to stare in confusion at the woman's back as they continued onward.

Just what was this woman talking about?


	25. Chapter 25

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 25**

* * *

Naruto sat on the inn bed silently. His held his hands in between his legs and nervously moved them back and forth. His two bodyguards had decided it best to return to their stationary positions atop the royal carriage instead of hanging about the largest city of the Land of Fire. Would probably create a bit of an unwanted stir.

The soft sound of the shower running in the bathroom was like an incessant drone in the boy's head. He could feel the heat coming from the smaller room and could smell the warm water; somehow making his throat feel very very dry.

The pair had just gotten back from their meeting with the lord of the land and Lady Orochimaru had told/ordered Naruto to sit on the bed and wait for her as she went to take a shower.

The boy had read enough to know what this usually lead to and was feeling both nervous as all Hell and as terrified as a rabbit surrounded by a pack of wolfs.

His mind raced with the possibilities that might unfold for him once the older woman had left the shower. Would he finally graduate to adulthood? Or, would she just tease him, making him wait until he was older to enjoy all she had to offer?

The sound of the shower turning off nearly caused the boy to jump. The now silent room made the boy feel even more conscious of himself. He did not want to make any strange noises that might embarrass him.

Why the Hell was he acting like this?

He was Naruto Uzumaki; the future Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. He was a highly trained assassin that had the ability to raise and reshape the dead into doing anything he desired!

Why was he acting so intimidated with the prospect of an ungodfully beautiful woman wanting to be even the slightest bit intimate with him?

Naruto steeled his gaze towards the bathroom door as the door knob turned. He was ready. There was no way he would loose to her feminine wiles.

That was what he last thought before his brain came to a screeching halt.

Right before his youthful eyes stood the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen.

Her image was like that of a work of pure art. Her pale white skin glistened like polished porcelain as the remaining droplets of water trailed down her form.

The white towel she had wrapped around her clung to her like a second skin, showing that she had not even bothered to properly dry herself yet while she used a second to dry her hair. Her eyes were closed and she waltzed over to the bed acting as if Naruto was not currently staring at her with the widest of eyes.

With a sigh, Lady Orochimaru finished with her hair and neatly folded the towel she was using before placing it on the bed.

Her eyes slowly opened and were focused completely on Naruto. They first looked over his shocked expression before darting down to the clear tent that his pants had made.

The boy instantly noticed and quickly covered the lewd display with both hands. His face turning a bright red and his eyes clenching shut in both embarrassment and an attempt to not stare at the older woman's lewd body.

"Oh little Naruto~." Her voice called out to him quickly followed with the sound of fabric hitting the floor. "Open your eyes."

Not risking his voice possibly betraying him, Naruto just shook his head instead of responding.

"Come on now." Her voice called. "Don't be like that." her voice was almost painfully melodic to the young lad.

"Is my body still too old for your liking? Does the idea of proclaiming one of the most powerful kunoichi in the world as one of your own not entice you?"

Naruto did all he could to drown out the sound of her voice in his ear. And the boy was being surprisingly successful.

That is, until he could feel her hot breath tickle his ear. "Or, perhaps you would like it to be the other way around?" The feeling of her hot breath on his ear mixed with her suddenly placing a hand over his own forced his eyes to open wide.

He kept his eyes facing forward however. He refused to even glance over at the woman's general direction for fear of falling for her wicked charms.

"Please, look at me little Naruto." Her voice whined. Begged for him to drink all of her with his eyes. The temptation was almost too much to bear.

His will was finally broken when the woman's hand slipped underneath his to directly touch his pitched tent and her tongue decided to snake along his ear.

Using every ounce of willpower he had, Naruto pushed himself off the bed, fell to the ground and scrambled as far away as possible before turning around to actually face the woman.

Naruto's terrified expression quickly blanched when he saw that Lady Orochimaru was actually fully clothed. The hard wall pressed uncomfortably against his back and the rapid thumping of his heart, mixed with the fact that he had been messed with so thoroughly finally mad the boy upset.

"Why do you keep doing stuff like this?!" Naruto shouted while getting back to his feet. He was finally getting annoyed with the woman's clearly fake displays of affection.

There was just no way that someone as beautiful as her would even think about having a relationship with a monster such as he. Sure, friendship was not too farfetched; but romance wise? That was far beyond the realm of possibility.

At most, the woman wanted to use him to sate her own needs as well as potentially abuse his power. That would be the only possible reason that someone like her would show any interest in a boy like him.

Lady Orochimaru's mirthful expression did not change; making Naruto that much more angry. Seeing this, the woman decided to make an effort to calm the kid.

"Calm yourself my little Naruto."

"Quit calming me _your_ little Naruto. I do not belong to you." He snarled; both hands clenched together in fists. He was not going to put up with her cruel teasing any more.

The woman had been doing so every chance she could whenever the pair were alone for even the smallest amount of time. Usually it was just a teasing glance or a charming word, but now that the two were alone. The woman had become much bolder in her actions.

It was only because of his bodyguards that she was unable to make any attempt into his tent during their travels.

"Oh but I wish you were mine." The woman confessed. Naruto's mind came to a quick and sudden halt. "I want all of you to belong to me. I want you to be all mine. Heart, body, and soul."

Her expression had not changed, making it impossible for Naruto to tell if she was being honest or not.

"I want to know everything about you _my_ little Naruto. It would be best for us all if you would just give in to me."

Seeing her face not change one bit made Naruto's anger return. With a huff he walked past the woman and left the room. He quickly made his way out of the inn and picked a random direction to walk in.

That damn woman kept playing tricks on him. Pretending like she was actually interested in him as an actual person. There was not a single doubt in his young mind that she was really after his power.

Probably just acting nice to him just so that he would fall for her and give her the chance to somehow take his power for herself.

Naruto continued to stew in his own thoughts as he wandered aimlessly. Eventually found himself in the more luxurious part of the city once again.

He was eventually drawn out of his musings by a series of harsh male giggles coming from a nearby fence. Naruto paused in his passing and noticed that the sound was coming from the other side. The steaming coming up from it was enough to tell the boy that it was part of the city's bathhouse.

The structure was situated well, with no buildings close enough that one would be able to look down if they climbed any roof.

The giggling persisted. Naruto was not sure why this one particular sound caught his attention as opposed to the countless others he had heard on his walk; but something about it drew the boy's attention.

He shoved his twisted hand into his pocket and went inside.

Naruto payed for a bath as well as some regular cleaning supplies. He was really not in the mood to see that woman again any time soon.

He quickly peeked within the changing room. Luckily it was too early in the day for there to be too many customers and the room was completely empty. Meaning that the young ninja did not need to worry about his hand freaking anybody out.

The ninja quickly stripped down, put all of his belonging in the offered basket, grabbed his towel and walked into the large bathing area. Deciding that since he practically had the entire place to himself, Naruto forwent covering himself with his towel and went straight to the task of properly cleaning himself.

He had to pay special attention to his deformed back and hand. The twisted flesh was not easy to clean since grim tended to stick to the rotten flesh. His claws also needed to be cleaned and properly filed too, unless he wanted for them to snag on pretty much everything.

It had been a good while since Naruto really felt like he could relax a little. So why not take the opportunity to do so here and now?

After making sure that he was all well and clean, Naruto walked to the back of the bathing area and through the dividing curtain. The bathing area was directly connected to an outdoor bath with the men's section separated from the woman's by a concrete wall.

Seeing no one around, Naruto carefully slipped into the heated water and allowed himself to finally relax a his bright blue eyes, all of his worldly concerned drifted away as the warm water and light steam enveloped him.

He could feel all of his tension just melt away. The boy even let out a sigh of relief as he could feel the tightened skin of his back and hand loosen a great deal due to the hot water.

His angry mind was able to release all of it's tension and more pleasant thoughts began to enter his mind.

Maybe had been a little harsh on Lady Orochimaru? The woman did offer to help him learn more about his ability as well as was kind enough to invite him on her trip to find her old team. Sure, she acted very perverted whenever given the chance, but she never teased him cruelly about it and never did anything in front of anyone that would embarrass him.

Maybe he should apologize to the woman once he returned from this little break. Hopefully she won't tease him too badly.

A series of rough giggles brought Naruto out of his musings and back to reality as he was instantly reminded why he had even entered the bathhouse in the first place.

He, begrudgingly, stood up and began to search the outdoor bath for any signs of where the giggling was coming from. Searching all over the place, Naruto was unable to find a single sign of anyone else in the bath.

But that damn noise persisted.

He needed to be able to see what could not be seen. To somehow see past any tricks or techniques that would normally obscure or confuse. He closed his eyes and focused all he could.

His eyes began to bleed.

Once he opened them, everything around him had taken on a reddish hue. He looked around a bit, noticing the vaguely human shapes coming from the other side of the dividing wall and all of their weak organs and brittle bones.

Naruto did his best to ignore the whispers of madness in his ear and focused on the task at hand.

With his new eyes, it did not take Naruto long to find the culprit. An old man wearing some sort of red-based outfit, old-timey sandals, and sporting a mane of long spiky white hair. He had a massive scroll on his back and was currently crouched down right on roof of the dividing wall; a dumb, perverted expression written all over his face.

It did not take a genius to figure out what he was doing. And a genius he was not, but Naruto knew right from wrong and refused to allow the woman on the other side be humiliated by some dirty old man.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted loudly. "What the Hell are you doing?!"

At first, the man ignored the kid. So, Naruto picked up a nearby wash bucket and chucked it, beaning the old guy squarely on the back of the head.

"Ow!" The man shouted as he stumbled a bit and quickly held the growing knot forming on the back of his skull.

Naruto quickly blinked his eyes back to normal and hid his monster hand behind his back before the man could turn to see who had attacked him.

The old man shot a glare at the only one that possible could have hit him. How the Hell did this little brat see right through his ultimate technique? He gave the boy a once over and easily noticed the boy's attempt at hiding something behind his back. Possible something else to throw at him.

Instead of risking getting caught by the woman he was 'observing', the old man leapt down onto the appropriate side of the bath and seized up the kid.

"Do you know who I am?" He demanded, expecting the kid to bulk at the boom of his voice. Instead, the kid only continued to glare.

"No." He responded quickly. "And I don't care. You can't just do stuff like that."

The man chuckled. "You poor, poor deluded boy. I can see now that you are still too young to truly know the pleasures of the female form." He struck a pose. "I, however, have years of experience with every type of woman possible!" He glanced down to make sure the boy was still paying attention.

"For I am the ultimate pleasure of women! The lover every lady alive!" He boasted loudly. "The most powerful womanizer to have ever lived!" He struck another pose. "I am; The great and Powerful Toad Sage Jiraiya."

A large red toad suddenly appeared underneath the man in a plum of white smoke.

Naruto immediately wanted to bulk away from the bizarre man. But then an idea game to mind.

It appeared that this strange old perverted appreciated showmanship and would likely respond and even possible respect Naruto enough if he overacted like Hell and put on a bit of an introductory show himself.

How could Naruto possible pass up the chance to show off? Sending a mental signal, Naruto began.

"Then let me tell you just who _I_ am!" He struck a pose of his own.

"i am the great defender of the Village Hidden Within the Leaves. The ear the listens to the whispers of the damned!" He struck another. "The voice that speaks the words of the dead. The bringer of life and death!"

His two Stalkers burst forth from within the changing room and ran circles around the large bath.

"I am the commander of the countless. Ruler of the decayed."

The twin beasts made a beeline straight for their master, leaping over the water before landing nearby, skidding along the slick floor and posing directly in front of him.

"I am the great Nightmare of the Leaf Village, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Jiraiya just stood there in complete and total shock. This guy. This boy. This BRAT; just tried to one-up him. No one one-ups the great Jiraiya, the man that can make any woman putty in his hands.

Jiraiya quickly regained his composure. "You still don't seem to grasp just who I am." He chuckled loudly. "Or else you would not have even bothered introducing yourself." He stuck a powerful posse.

"I, the Great Toad Sage Jiraiya, have toppled entire armies single handed. I have fought more demons barehanded than you ever could with a weapon and have had so many bed mates that there is without a doubt several hundred of my children running across the world."

The old man stood proudly upon his massive toad. "So, I ask once again, who are? Give me a reason to care!"

Naruto knew that it was time to pull out all of the stops. He needed to show this old guy just exactly who it was he was messing with.

"I, the Great Naruto, have risen more dead than any battlefield could ever hold. I have created monsters that would fry your mind. I have sent armies running away scared like like children with just my presence alone. I am the most powerful genin the world has ever seen and I **will** become the Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves; with or without my army!"

A fire burned behind the young boy's eyes. A fire that Jiraiya did not fail to notice. Taking a good long look at the boy, the old man finally took note of the twisted appendage replacing his hand as well as the two strange beasts that had burst in just moments ago.

His network of spies and informants had told him about a strange boy living in his home village that had the power to make undying monsters. He had also been told that one of his old teammates had been seen spending time with the boy.

It was clear that the kid standing naked in front of him was this rumored child. This also meant the the sensual Lady Orochimaru was nearby as well.

A perverse smile formed on the old mans face. After not seeing her for so long, he knew that the woman was nothing less than an absolute bomb shell. If he played his cards just right, he might even get the opportunity to see the pure skin she hid behind her robes.

Sex with her was too scary of a thought even for the legendary pervert.

Still, to see the boy's creations first hand was something to behold.

"Your name is Naruto, right?" His boisterous voice had become serious.

Naruto continued to glare at the old man. He seemed to be glaring at people a lot recently. "Yeah, as if my awesome display was not enough proof." He huffed.

Jiraiya decided to ignore the boy's tone and continue. "Your supposed to be in the Hidden Leaf Village. What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Why does that matter to you?" Naruto responded harshly. He had no patients for someone that was willing to peek on women as well as think that they were better than him. No tolerance for it at all what so ever.

The old man gave a heavy sigh, maybe he shouldn't have riled the kid up since it turned out he was so important.

"Look kid." He started. "You know who I am now; and I have been told that you know one of my old teammates. So it stands to reason that if you are here, then there is a chance that she would be here as well."

He began to smile strangely. "You've spent a lot of time with her, right? So there is a chance you might have seen a little bit of what she hides under her robes, huh?" His voice had changed completely from straight-as-an-arrow business, to creeper-next-door.

Naruto took a step back at the sudden change in tone. "Uh..." As well as being unable to properly respond. Unfortunately, the red tint on his cheeks was all that the toad sage needed to confirm his accusation.

"You have!?" Jiraiya hopped off his toad right before it vanished in a plum of smoke.

He took a nearly threatening step towards the boy. "Tell me." His voice was demanding. "Tell me every last detail of her flawless skin. What are her exact measurements? Is her skin completely pale or does she have just the slightest of a tan?" He pulled out a small notebook and a pen.

Now Naruto was officially creeped out. "No way!" He shouted. "I ain't telling you anything, you freaky old pervert!"

"Please!" The old man practically begged. "I just know that if I can get the details just right, then my next novel will best all others that I have written. It will be the ultimate story of the ages!"

"Oh you and your silly books." A soft voice cooed from the entry way to the outdoor bath. Both male heads snapped towards the direction of the voice.

The jaw-dropping image of Lady Orochimaru already wrapped up in a towel hit both males like a ton of bricks. Sure, Naruto had just ran off from the woman being in such a state, but not a soul alive would deny the immense joy one could feel upon seeing such a beauty in so very very little.

"What are you doing here?!" Naruto shouted. "This is the men's bath!"

Jiraiya was too preoccupied staring at every inch of the woman's exposed skin. This was the most skin he had ever seen exposed on the royal woman and you can bet he was memorizing every last detail for future use. It was such a shame that her pink towel hid everything from the neck down to her ankles; but this was the first time he had ever seen all of her arms.

"Come now, my little Naruto." The woman chastised lightly as she stepped into the warm water, still keeping the towel on just to deprive the old man of his dream. "Did you really think I would loose something as precious as you that easily?" She sat down and gently stirred that water with her finger tips. "I can always find you my dear."

"Oh my dear sweet Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted while instantly tearing off all of his clothing. For some unknown reason, the old man had a towel already wrapped around his waist underneath all of that cloth. He quickly leapt into the water and almost teleported right beside the woman.

"How have you been my queen? What brings a goddess such as yourself to such a magnificent city?" He asked in the absolute best suave voice he could muster. "It has been such a long time since we had last seen each other. I would love to catch up; over drinks?"

Lady Orochimaru ignored the man's words. Instead she appeared to be more focused on the water trailing down her lithe arms; and occasionally flickering her eyes over to the still exposed Naruto.

It took the boy a good moment before he realized why she kept looking at him. With a very embarrassing shriek, the boy quickly plunged himself back into the water; hoping that it and the steam would prevent his most intimate of places from being seen.

The woman gave a disappointed sigh before forcing her attention towards her past teammate. The old man had been a constant annoyance to her and the other female member of their team. His constantly failing attempts at flirtation and his obvious attempts to peek or grope her throughout their growing years had permanently stained the man's image in her eyes.

The fact that he was currently gazing at her with those same perverted eyes she had seen years ago made the woman's skin crawl. But she would not allow her desire to chastise and beat the man overtake her. She needed her image of perfect control to remain steadfast in front of her pet.

"I have been well." She finally responded. "We have come looking for both you and Lady Tsunade." In truth, she only really wanted to see the other female of their past, but deep down she knew that she would eventually need the perverted old man's help; eventually.

Jiraiya's pleasant expression hardened as he sat more properly in the bath. "I assume it is about the boy?" His tone had become dead series. There was a time and place for everything.

Said boy was off to the side trying his damnedest to clean his two Stalkers. Even if they were undead and did not really rot, mold and general gunk did sneak its way into the tiny bits of torn flesh and chipped bone. All together making the creature none too pleasant to be around; scent wise at least.

"Yes." She was blunt. "You know who he is; don't you?"

Naruto did not respond.

"And you know what he is." She finally turned to look at her old teammate, her harsh yellow eyes piercing right through any sort of defense he might have thought of bringing up. "Don't you?"

"So what is the problem?" He was focusing on Naruto, more specifically on his mutated hand.

"Quit a lot." She started. "First, the fact that if he sustains any injury, that thing inside of him use the wound to forcefully change him. It is just a matter of time before he is no longer human and possibly becomes a vessel for that entity. We need to find a way to insure that Naruto will always be in control."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Jiraiya mumbled under his breath. "We just have to make sure he _wants_ to stay in control. Making sure that he has people close him should help prevent any take over by that thing. If he is anything like his father; giving up will simply not be an option."

"But that is not a guarantee." The woman emphasized. "That may help, but his mind is already heavily damaged by what that thing is doing to him. It would not take too much for it to break completely. We need something that can guarantee that he will _always_ be in control."

"That may take some time to find out." Jiraiya responded. "What other issues are there?"

"Another part of him needing to stay in control, is learning how to control. The changes that entity bestows upon the boy have other uses than just simple replacements."

"I gathered that much seeing that claw of a hand he had. I took a wild guess and assumed that he wasn't exactly born with it."

"The snark is unnecessary." Lady Orochimaru replied hotly. "He needs to understand all that his do now or else risk possibly paying for his inexperience on the battlefield. Or worse, finding out at the worst possible moments." A shiver went down the woman's spine as a terrible thought entered her mind.

"I am sure that with time, he will be able to learn how to use his new parts with ease." The old man did not sound concerned in the slightest. "Is there anything else?"

Lady Orochimaru shot the man a foul glance. He did not appear to grasp the seriousness of what could happen if Naruto failed to control his body and the things he could create.

"Then I assume that you are not worried about the group of rouges that have formed and are trying to obtain every demon that the world has?"

Jiraiya failed to hide the twitch of concern that suddenly appeared; making Lady Orochimaru smirk nastily in success.

"And." She continued. "That you are not concerned about the possibility of them finding little Naruto and possibly influencing him for their own ends? Or the possibility that the may kill every demon they find just so that Naruto would be able to bring them back more dangerous than ever?"

"I never said I wasn't worried about any of that." The man's cool and unconcerned tone had shifted greatly as he adjusted himself so that he was sitting up a little more straight. "It just does not seem likely. If anything that my spies have told me is true, then we should have nothing to worry about in regards of him betraying his village; consciously or otherwise."

"But there is no guarantee." She reiterated. "That is what I have been trying to focus all of my energy on. Keeping the boy home."

"And I'm betting you want me and Tsunade to help with everything else?"

"It would be greatly appreciated."

Jiraiya crossed his arms and began to think. Why should he care about this brat? What does it matter to him if he destroys that crummy village?

"I am sure his late parents would greatly appreciate it as well." The woman interjected threateningly.

Instantly; Jiraiya began to sweat, and it was not from the heat of the bath. The thought of arriving in the afterlife to only be greeted by the rage demons his student and his student's wife would surely become made the old man panic very quickly. He was old, he knew that. He was more than aware of the fact that his time on this plan was limited.

He would much rather be greeted with a kind smile than a demon's fangs.

"Alright, alright." He said in an irritated tone. "I'll help."

"I knew you would."

"I have been focusing all of my time on studying and trying to understand the boy's power as a whole; as well giving him a reason to stay home, as I said earlier. Why don't you start by actually getting along with him before helping him understand his new hand?" Lady Orochimaru suggested coyly.

Jiraiya shot the woman a dirty look. How could someone so beautiful and perfect be so mean to such a poor old man? It just wasn't right. Didn't help that the woman had somehow retained her youthful beauty despite being in her fifties.

The old man grumbled as he stood and made his way over to Naruto; who was still busy trying to get his creatures clean.

"Hey, Naruto right?" He called to the kid; who ignored him completely.

Jiraiya gave an exacerbated sigh before slumping back down into the water. "Look kid." He started. "We got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over."

Naruto had actually turned to acknowledge the old pervert. The guy was Lady Orochimaru's old team mate, so at least trying to get along with him would not be the worst possible thing in the world.

"I heard everything about you from Lady Orochimaru." Jiraiya explained. "And after some careful consideration, I have decided that I will help you with your training and shall take you as my student."

Naruto was conflicted. On one hand, another of the worlds greatest shinobi was willing to train him and teach him techniques and abilities others would die for just the chance to witness. On the other, the man was a colossal perv and an idiot that might cause Naruto a lot more trouble than any education the man could offer would be worth.

Naruto returned his attention to the undead monster's back he had been scrubbing; putting every ounce of strength he had in getting every inch of the creature cleaned.

"And what could you possibly teach me? How to be a pervert like you?" He did his best to sound completely uninterested in the offer.

"That would be part of the training." The old man chuckled. "But I would be able to help you with the changes that _thing_ is putting you through." His tone was dead serious.

Naruto paused. Someone else that was willing to help him understand himself? Lady Orochimaru was already doing all she could, so what could this old man do that she could not?

The boy was tempted to say those words allowed, but something stopped him. Something told him to accept the man's offer. Maybe deep down he really knew he needed it; that he needed all the help he could. Maybe the scared little child that was still inside Naruto was still grasping for the affection that he had just now started to receive.

Maybe that small voice was still calling out for anyone to come and help keep the demons away. Any help.

"How?" Was the only word the boy spoke, but it held so much emotion within it. Hope, desperation, fear and a dozen others that Naruto would never be able to describe.

"With time and effort." Jiraiya responded truthfully. "I only know as much as the lovely lady. But I can promise you that we can work together to understand everything you are going through and how to control it all.

Naruto stopped his scrubbing for a moment. A swarm of thoughts flooded his young mind.

Thoughts about the past.

Thoughts about the possible future.

Thoughts about the people around him.

And thoughts about himself.

"Ok." Naruto said after a good minute of silence. "Where do we start?"


	26. Chapter 26

**Living Decay  
**

 **Chapter 26**

* * *

"So, show me what you can do." Jiraiya ordered as he and Naruto stood in an open field just outside of the nation's capital.

It was just a few days after Naruto's meeting with the pervert and the old man was already preparing a special made training regimen based on every little characteristic the boy had.

The old man had taken the boy out to test his skills while Lady Orochimaru went about trying to find the location of their third and final teammate.

From the boy's general attitude to the very way he moved; the old man was going to create the perfect way for him to train so that he can use his abilities to the best of them. Even if the chances of him using any sort of offensive capability was severely limited.

He just would not have the time since anything foolish enough to even put a scratch on the boy would be reduced to nothing more than a bloody smear and a memory.

But there may come a day where Naruto will not be able to depend on his monstrosities to save him and will have to resort to any method possible to defend himself and defeat a terrible foe.

At least, that was what Jiraiya had planned for the boy as he watched him go about what he normally did during a training session.

It was almost exactly what the old man expected to see. It was clear that he never really learned any of the techniques taught at his home village's academy. He started out with a basic stance but quickly devolved into nothing more than straight brawling.

Instead of going for precise strikes and aiming for weak spots; Naruto's attacks appeared to be geared more for causing pain than dealing death. He struck at non-vital locations on the training dummies and hit with resounding force with each punch. He rarely used his feet in any of his attacks, choosing to use them for stability so that the force of his own attacks did not throw him off balance or risk an easy opening for attack.

Very strange for an assassin, but very practical for one that does not want to give their own personal demon a real body. By brutally beating down his opponent, Naruto's hard hits instilled just as much fear as pain. Fear of more pain. Fear of an even more brutal death.

Trying to teach the boy any other style of fighting would be pointless. Most all were made to quickly deal death to an opponent, and the few that did not were geared more for disabling opponents or removing their weaponry more so than causing any pain or damage.

Jiraiya watched the boy intently; calculating every possible move an opponent could make at every split second that Naruto moved. At the same time, the old man was trying to work out counters and counters to those counters and so on and so on.

After the boy had worked himself into a fine sweat, Jiraiya gave the order to break while thinking to himself.

As Naruto took a seat next to his twin Stalkers and allowed the cool breeze to help dry him off, another thought made it's way into the old pervert's head.

Since it was very doubtful that the boy would ever fight alone, would it be possible for him to fight alongside any of his possible creations and still make it out of a fight the victor?

The thought only entered the man's skull for just a moment before he quickly came to the conclusion that it was beyond obvious that Naruto had probably already done so at least a few times now. Still, any training was good training, so more practice with his creations would not do any harm.

There was a chance, a very very slim one, but still a chance that Naruto might be able to control his creatures enough to not outright kill any opponent that dared to face him.

After a few moments of rest, Jiraiya spoke up again. "Alright, now include those two and show me what you got."

Naruto looked at the old man, then at his two undead companions, then back at Jiraiya.

"I can't." He stated bluntly. "They don't get training or practice." He started to explain, seeing Jiraiya's raised eyebrow. "I mean they don't understand it. They are not like the regular animals that other ninja use. They only understanding killing things that are alive."

Made since. If they were made to just make more of themselves; via killing, then what was the point in them expending energy attacking something that they can not kill? The only way that they would willingly do such a useless act would be to protect their master from an object that might cause him harm.

Besides, the wooden training dummies were technically made out of dead matter already. Sure, the wood was treated to help prevent rot, but all lumber is nothing more than dead trees. Why would things that exist just to kill attack something that was already dead?

"Well, whatever." Jiraiya waved off the boy's words. "Then just continue where you left off."

"Why?" Naruto groaned. "You've been watching for hours. Haven't you seen enough to know that I'm already the best?" He said with a big stupid grin.

"Careful with that ego boy." The old man warned. His tone held mirth with his words; knowing that the boy's boast was nothing more than a facade to hide the unease he felt being judged by a legend.

"You are." He paused to find the right word. "...Unique." Found it. "Your power does make you special, but it also makes you a target."

Naruto's expression faltered.

"From your face I can tell you don't really know what I'm talking about." The old man sighed before he rose to his feet. "There are people that are out there looking for you, Naruto." His voice held no tone for foolishness. "And these people want the power that you have. Don't ask my why they want it or how they plan on taking it. All I do know is that they are after you and they are willing to do anything to get to you."

"Let them take it." Naruto responded harshly. "Let them take this _thing_ from me! Even if I have to die; let them take it as far away from me and my home!"

Jiraiya sighed heavily. "You and I both know we can not let them have that thing, Naruto. And we both know that anyone desperate enough to try and take it is not someone that we want to have it."

"So what?" Naruto responded harshly. "I know how to kill these things." He gestured to his Stalkers. "I know what that thing is afraid of and I already have some..." He paused just a hair's breath. "...one that can help get rid of it forever!"

"Do you!?" The old man shouted. His voice booming with a level of authority Naruto had only heard from the Hokage. "Do you really think that this person can actually get rid of this monster inside of you? If they could, then why haven't they already?"

Naruto could not give a response.

"If they take it from you, Naruto, they are going to kill you and everyone else in the world." The old man tried to reason. "It does not matter who they are. Anyone that wants the power you have can and will destroy everything once they have it."

"But why me?" The boy asked softly. "Why am I the one that has to go through all of this?"

He was tired. So very tired of all the mind numbing nightmares. Of the fear of loosing control and killing his home. He was just so tired of it all.

"Because the fourth knew that you were the only one capable of handling it." Jiraiya said reassuringly. "He knew that nobody else alive would be able to withstand this thing's torture and still come out a good person."

"I was only a baby when it was put in me. How would anybody know I wouldn't turn out to be some insane tyrant or somethin'?"

Jiraiya just gave the boy a look. "Are you?"

Naruto could not look the man in the face. His fears being presented out to a person he hardly knew; yet he had a strange feeling that this old man was going to be very important in the future.

"I...I don't think so."

"Do you want to destroy your home and the people around you?"

"No."

"Then there is nothing to worry about. You are becoming the person I know the fourth Hokage knew you would be. And with the power you have and the control you must maintain, you will surpass him in not just power, but respect as well."

The two remained in silence for a while.

It was the old man that decided to finally break the quiet spell after a solid minute of neither talking.

"Feel any better?" His words were gentle and kind; knowing that the boy's outburst was nothing more than him releasing some built up stress. Though, Jiraiya knew that it was far from enough to fully calm the kid down. He was not sure if anything ever would.

Naruto gave a nod.

"Great." Jiraiya clapped his hands together. "Then back to the training!"

Naruto nodded before standing back up.

"Hold on, I want to test something with you. Something that may make your fighting style that much more impactful."

The two trained well into the day and into the beginning hours of the evening. Most was physical, but Jiraiya was sure that Naruto was properly trained in the major field he truly needed it; the mental.

Steady mental training, after all, was the only thing keeping the boy from breaking.

They rested at the hotel until morning where the training continued. Jiraiya did grumble about the fact that he could not hang around some beautiful women and was being forced to baby sit some brat, but was sure to do so under his breath.

The training went on for the next few days until Lady Orochimaru approached the pair one sunny afternoon to let them know she had obtained knowledge about the whereabouts of their third and final teammate.

A large city closer to the Hidden Leaf Village that was famous for being the gambling capital of the world. A prime location for the world's strongest gambling addict.

The group began to move out immediately. With Jiraiya a little more than upset that he was being forced to walk alongside Lady Orochimaru's carriage instead of inside.

The woman was sure to take the time to make sure Naruto was properly educated as well. Especially about the many secrets of his own home village.

The woman had been appalled when she first learned of the boy's stunted education the first time she had arrived at the hidden village. So it was only proper that the boy's self-proclaimed mistress would be the one to properly educate him.

The long trip gave the perfect amount of study time the boy needed to properly learn all of the many special abilities and custom's of the many clans and families that made up his home. Useful knowledge for the eventual leader of said village.

"Why does that little brat get to ride around with you while I have to march along like some kind of bodyguard." The old man complained.

Lady Orochimaru had to stifle a laugh.

"Unlike you, Naruto is a sweet child that would never think to take advantage of a beautiful defenseless woman. I can trust the boy to sit on my lap without fear of him doing something outrageous." Her voice was sweet as the sugary words poured from her mouth.

That sweetness quickly turned sour. "You, however, I would not trust to be alone with for more than a few seconds. You would take every bit of advantage of me as soon as you possibly could."

Out of the corner of her eye, the woman was able to see Naruto watching her intently. A wicked smile formed her lips once again.

"I am willing to bet you would force me down in a heart beat and do a number of unspeakable things to me. Forcing me into an addiction of your taste and feel while my body becomes nothing more than your plaything."

Naruto's face began to redden as his young mind began to image everything the woman was saying; completely ignoring the fact the she was now speaking at a much softer volume so that only he could hear.

"Forcing me to wear only the skimpiest outfits possible when in public. Making me go naked whenever alone. Forcing himself into all of my tight little holes whenever he wanted." She leaned forward so that each word was sure to puncture through the boy's thick skull and worm their way into his mind.

"Can you just imagine? Me being forced to my knees while your thick cock pushes itself past my tight lips and fill my mouth with your taste? You thrust in with all the force you have to make sure that my throat is stuffed full of your flavor? Hearing the sounds of my gagging and moaning as the nasty sound of your hot cock forcing itself over and over into my wet mouth?"

Naruto's face was red enough to put a tomato to shame, yet he kept his eyes forward and refused to move. He did not budge an itch as Lady Orochimaru decided to sit right next to the boy inside of the small carriage.

"What are you thinking about, Little Naruto." Her hot breath tickled his ear. "Is your mind filled with filthy thoughts about this old woman? Does knowing that I am so much older than you turn you on that much more; thinking about how you not only conquered a legendary shinobi, but an older woman as well?"

Naruto's eyes clenched shut as he finally realized what the woman was doing and began to try his damnedest to push all of the raunchy imagery out of his head.

It did not work. So instead, the young boy forced his head away from the woman and tried his best to focus on the outside world slowly going by.

 _''Please, no more.'' She begged in a flirty tone. This little game had been simply too much fun for her to just give up now. She and her beloved hero had been stealing away night after night since his return; each ending up more passionate than the last._

 _This night was ending up no different. They had decided to see what it would be like of her hero was actually the villein and how this would turn out if he hac actually stolen her; in more ways than one._

 _"Sorry." His tone was filled with mirth at the play. "But I'm not going to stop until you can't taste anything else ever again." He placed both of his hands on either side of her head and pressed the head of cock against her bright red lips. There was almost no resistance at all as he gave just the slightest amount of force.  
_

 _She was all too happy to take his cock as far into her mouth as possible._

Naruto had to turn away again since looking outside just gave him a glorious view of Jiraiya's notebook.

The old man figured he might as well get some work down while on the trip. A little exercise was good for getting the creative juices flowin'.

Now he was stuck between the filthy words filling his ear, or the smut plaguing his eyes.

Oh what was poor Naruto to do?

He had to think of something quick that would at least get the woman to stop whispering such lewd remarks in his ear. Violence was clearly not that answer and the boy doubted there was anything he could say that would convince the woman to stop.

Or was there?

Maybe there were a few choice words he could spout that would catch the woman off-guard. He had always reacted so hesitantly and embarrassed whenever she mentioned anything intimate. What if...?

The boy gulped audibly before turning to face the much older woman. Lady Orochimaru simply continued to smile at the young boy.

Naruto took a deep breath before looking the woman dead in the eye. A fire burned behind those eyes that the woman was not expecting to see. Suddenly it was her face she could feel beginning to heat up. Those passionate eyes burned with the same determination she had seen time and again.

"I want to see your breasts."

Lady Orochimaru nearly jumped out of her skin when the boy spoke. Too deep in her own lewd thoughts to remember that he was even there. It took her a good few seconds to register what the boy had said.

A smile formed on her lips. She instantly knew what the lad was trying to do.

Since he has always been rejecting her advances, he was hoping that suddenly going on the offensive would be enough to stun her out of her attempts.

Clearly this was not going to work.

Lady Orochimaru leaned back into her seat. "As you wish, my sweet little Naruto." Her voice cooed. She leaned even further back and placed one foot on the seat, forcing her robes to bunch up and show almost every inch of her pale white leg.

Naruto's eyes could not help but be drawn to the milky flesh and a part of him wished heavily that he could see further up.

She slowly moved one hand across her chest until in vanished within her robes. With a simple motion, one entire side of her attire had slipped down to reveal her exposed shoulder and just the smallest portion of one of her breasts.

Lady Orochimaru gave Naruto a sly smile. His eyes were completely focused all on her; as they should be. This was different than when she had sauntered up to the boy completely naked a few days ago. He had been the one to initiate this little interaction and so a part of him deep within told him that he had to see it all the way through.

Because he had asked for it.

"More?" She asked in a soft tone. Naruto nodded so fast that he was at risk of snapping his neck.

The woman smiled and was about to reveal more of her pure skin, until she noticed an eye peering into the carriage.

Jiraiya had heard every single word and knew what was about to happen. He would be a fool not to try and take advantage. To finally see Lady Orochimaru's exposed breast would be a dream come true.

Said woman in question glared daggers at the staring eye before raising another foot, giving both mean a very good view of both of her thighs. She turned slightly and for a split moment, Jiraiya could swear he saw everything before a pair of feet came smashing through the carriage door and slammed straight into his face.

This was not a gentle hit, the carriage door splintered apart as the powerful woman shoved both feet through it and made good contact with Jiraiya's face. There was a nasty popping sound as the man's nose was broken by the force of the twin kick and he was sent flying back.

He landed hard and quickly pulled both hands up to his now aching face.

Lady Orochimaru stomped out of the carriage; which the driver had so wisely decided to stop, and made her way over to her prone teammate.

"Did I give you permission to look old man?" She asked with venom dripping from every word. "Did I say that I was exposing myself for you?" She slammed a foot on the man's stomach.

"You will **never** be worthy of witnessing all of me. Only those **I** deem so shall gaze upon my beauty. You will **never** be one of them." She pushed down on the man's gut before pushing away.

"Last time you tried this was when we were children." She stopped before walking back into the carriage. "I thought the warning I gave you back then was good enough. Looks like you will need to be taught again."

Jiraiya's eyes grew massive with fear as he scrambled to his feet. "N-n-no wait!" Blood dripped heavily from his broken nose as he began to plea to the woman. "I'm sorry! It was just a reflex! I couldn't help myself!"

"Do not worry, my old friend." Her voice was like ice. "I will be sure this time that you will not make the same mistake again." She looked at Naruto, who had wisely decided to remain in the carriage. "Let us be off my little Naruto. We should not be wasting time with this idiot's disgusting ways."

And the trip resumed as it had before. Only now with a partially damaged carriage and a bloody Jiraiya.

The strange group made it to the village that the third legendary shinobi was thought to currently be staying without any other hassle. They found a hotel, set up their rooms.

Lady Orochimaru did her best to get Naruto to willingly stay with her, but the boy's excuse of needing to keep an eye on Jiraiya lest he try something foul was simply impossible to argue against.

Instead of waiting around for any news on their eventual fourth member, Lady Orochimaru quickly set out upon the town to try and find Tsunade; leaving the two remaining males alone to do whatever they pleased.

Which, for Jiraiya at least, was to go about the sleazy town and make the most of this golden opportunity. Thus leaving poor little Naruto all alone in the rented room.

There really was not much for the boy to do. He could go train, but what would be the point? He still did not have a full grasp of either how his undead hand worked or the technique Jiraiya was attempting to teach him. His chakra control was so poor that he still could not get past step one.

But there really was not anything else he could do.

He could go explore the town. But from what the two older members of the party had described, the place was more of a playground for adults with cash to spare. And the kid was trying to save up for a, hopefully, better apartment in the near future.

He wallowed about on the bed for about thirty seconds before deciding that wandering the town was better than simply sitting there and letting the constant voices and images in his mind bring him quicker to the brink of insanity.

With a resounding groan of defeat, Naruto clambered off the bed, and went to open the door; expecting nothing more than to walk immediately out into the empty hallway.

You can imagine his surprise when, instead of the empty hall, Naruto was greeted by two tall, male figures standing in the doorway. Both men were clearly adults and worse completely black cloaks with red clouds patterned about randomly.

The first was a strange looking man with blue skin who had features best described as shark-like. Gill-like marking on the checks, a constant viscous smile showing rows of triangular teeth. Even the man's hair was a shade of dark blue. Even the handle, guard, and hilt of the massive sword strapped to his back was either blue or had a shark motif.

The man was the tallest out of the pair as well as the most large in terms of muscle. Kinda' had to be to be able to wield a sword just as big as himself.

It was quiet clear to young Naruto who the second man was. His tall, firm build mixed with those cold, unfeeling eyes. None other than Uchiha Sasuke's murderous brother. Those unmistakable red and black eyes of the Uchiha family's easily recognizable blood-line ability bore down on poor Naruto like those of a cat staring down at a broken mouse.

Uchiha Itachi...like you all had **no** idea that this was something I was going to keep in line with the canon plot...

It was clear with the slashed headbands that both wore that they had both gone rouge and the look in their eyes told Naruto that they were not here to talk.

The young boy was caught off guard by the pair's sudden appearance and stumbled back in shock; making sure to hide his inhuman hand at the same time.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Itachi's cold voice spoke out from behind the high collar of his black cloak. "You need to come with us." He offered a pale hand out to the boy.

A chill when down Naruto's spine. Something told the boy that doing what the deserter said would be a very poor idea. He took a wary step back.

"What's the matter kid?" The shark-like man said with a wicked grin. "Don't you trust two fine upstanding gentlemen like us?"

Naruto did not say a word and simply stepped back a bit, knowing that his weapon holster was just behind him on the bedside table.

"Nu uh." Fish man chastised while waving a finger with one hand and reaching for his massive blade with the other. "We don't need you trying anything funny. You do, and I'll be more than happy to turn you into a limbless stump." His smile stayed the same. "After all, we just need you alive, not intact."

"And you still lack tact." Itachi said in an irritated tone.

"Hurting me would be a very bad idea." Naruto warned.

"Oh, we know." Shark-man smirked. "We may not be able to hurt you physically, but we can still hurt you."

Naruto had an idea of what the man meant, and it certainly was not anything he would want to think about. He closed one eye as he felt pain build up behind it. But before the blood could even flow through it, the sharp tip of a blade suddenly appeared right in front of the young boy's nose.

"Please do not waste our time with your little eye trick Naruto." Itachi spoke in an annoyed tone. "Like my friend say, we only need you alive. I will blind you if I must to gain your cooperation."

"You know?" Naruto was shocked, but did his best to hide it with a feeling of determination. This was the first time he had every encountered anyone that actually had a grasp of his abilities and had plans on countering them.

"Of course we do." The fish dude said with a scoff. "You think we look stupid enough to go after someone with the kind of powers you have?"

"Yes." Naruto replied quickly. "You look like you belong in a glass bowl and that thinking is too difficult a task for ya'."

Fish-man's eyebrow twitched at the boy's quick admission. "You've got a smart mouth there kid. I'm thinkin' maybe we should shut it."

Itachi, Irritated with how long this whole ordeal was taking, gave a heavy sigh. "Do what you please, just bring him along." He sheathed his own blade and stepped back so that his ally could handle the hard labor.

Naruto stood straight. "You too really have no idea what I am. Whatever anyone has told you...at most is a half truth."

"Really now?" Shark guy asked with a knowing smirk. "We know what your eyes can do. We know what you do to the dead. And we know that you can control them." His smile grew wider. "We also know how to kill each and every one of them."

He pulled his wrapped up blade from his back and planted it on the ground in front of him. "So why not just come along with us before we bloody you up too badly?"

Naruto scoffed. "If you're so sure of yourself; why not just force me to come? Surely you two can handle my entire army when it comes for you." It was Naruto's turn to smirk as the fish-faced man scowled hard. "I can already see it. You'll be able to cut down a few before you fall. But you will **never** be able to handle all of my army."

"I hate brats like you!" The blue skinned man shouted before tossing a fist straight for Naruto.

The boy just stood there with that same smirk etched across his face as the fist came sailing straight for him.

"Wait." Itachi suddenly spoke up. He moved with blinding speed to halt his companion's attack with a hand on the arm. Naruto was clearly not pleased that his little ruse had now failed.

"Why?" The blue-skinned fellow shot his ally a look. "This little shit wants to get beaten; so why not give him what he wants?"

"How about I give you two something instead?" A familiar voice spoke from down the hall.

The two rogue shinobi were forced to turn their attention to a crouching Jiraiya, who was already finishing up a series of hand seals. He slammed both of his hands on the ground and the entire building became covered in a sticky, foul smelling pink substance.

The fish-faced fuck angrily grabbed his sword only to nearly prat-fall as the strange pink goo had adhered the strange blade to the very floor.

"What?!"

Jiraiya gave a knowing smirk. "Welcome to the stomach of a giant toad. If you can survive our encounter long enough, then you will have the pleasure of being digested."

He instantly charged forward with a glowing sphere of chakra in his hand.

Snarling, the shark-like man gripped his sword with both hands and somehow found the strength to rip the blade free from it's gooey confines while at the same time swinging it towards the old man.

Jiraiya was able to quickly step back just as the blade sailed almost harmlessly in front of him. I saw almost because the very tip of the wrapped up weapon made contact with the chakra sphere and the orb was completely torn away.

The visible chakra was quickly sucked right into the weapon as it appeared to move underneath it's wrappings. The sword continued to move, as if alive and hungry for more of the life energy.

The rouge shinobi smirked. "You should know better than to come at me with such an attack old man. I'll be sure my sword eats every last bit of you." He made an attempt to charge at the aged warrior only to find he himself had been swallowed by the stinky floor. The pink mess covered his feet and was already crawling its way up his shins.

"ITACHI!" A young voice shouted from behind Jiraiya.

The voice belonged to none other than the youngest surviving Uchiha, Sasuke. The youth was dripping sweat and panting as hard as his lungs would allow. Obvious signs of him having come straight from his home village to the hotel in as little time as possible. Anger burned behind his onyx eyes as the distant memories of that faithful night came rushing back. Without even thinking about it, the youngest Uchiha's hate filled eyes changed into their more powerful state, the dreaded sharingan.

Without saying another word, Sasuke focused all of his energy into his right hand; which, within a single moment, had become nearly completely enveloped in writhing electricity.

"We do not have time for this." Itachi stated in an annoyed tone as he held one hand up and began to focus chakra to his eyes. His own sharingan eyes began to spin and shift as more of his life-giving energy was forced into them.

The smallest of movements at the corner of the man's vision forced the older Uchiha to glance over at the fist coming straight for his pretty-boy face. Itachi leaned back to dodge the attack as his own feet were already slowly being consumed by the fleshy floor.

Naruto landed right in front of the older ninja, but used the momentum of his missed attack to quickly turn himself so as to avoid the incoming sword swing that had been aimed for his midsection.

The orange-clad ninja quickly bounced off the wall to try for another hit, only for Itachi to once again move out of the way. Instead of swinging his blade at the boy, the older Uchiha snagged the boy by the back of his jacket before using his other hand to force the boy to look him in the eye.

Naruto smirked as blood leaked from his own eyes.

Itachi tried to turn his head away only to have Naruto's twisted hand come up and hold his head forward.

"I know what your eyes can do too." Naruto sneered. "Now let's see whose is the strongest."

Both shinobi stared directly into each other's supernatural eyes; the world melting away around them as their powers clashed.

The two were left standing in an empty void of darkness with only each other being visible.

Itachi pushed the boy back with enough force to send him to the ground. "Looks like my family's eyes are stronger than yours, Naruto." He sighed in irritation. "I had hope to avoid inflicting any unnecessary harm to you. But we are already here, and there is no helping it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man. Itachi noticed and decided to explain.

"This is the great power of the Sharingan; Tsukuyomi. Here, time flows separate from the outside world. A minute out there and a year in here." The older man looked around for a moment, and noticed something was a bit off about his other world.

He had used this technique more times than he could count. It was one of, if not the, most useful techniques for torture and interrogation his organization had at their disposal. So, needless to say, he knew all there was about the technique and what it was capable of.

And it always sent him and his target into a dark world with a blood-red sky.

Here; there was no sky. There was nothing. No land, no sky, not even the faint scent of blood that usually permeated the air of his Tsukuyomi.

This was far from normal for the Uchiha's famous technique.

"Something the matter?" Naruto asked with a smirk while getting back to his feet. His posture and facial expression were enough for Itachi to recognize that the boy was the cause of the unusual changes to his beloved ability. Itachi simply glared at the boy.

I was told about your clan's bloodline on the ride here." Naruto explained. "I really don't remember any of the boring stuff except that it could make people see things different and can screw around with their heads. A part of me wanted to know what would happen should my power mix with yours."

The kid looked around the blank nothingness. "I guess not much."

Without saying a word, Itachi rushed forward. This may be their combined minds, but a hit was still a hit and would hurt the kid none the less. Naruto leapt back away from the swipe just as a massive crack appeared in the surrounding darkness.

The crack had a brilliant red glow and quickly grew larger and larger; splintering as it began to take over the entirety of the empty void. Eventually, a section of the void shattered as a massive black spiral pillar erupted out from the nothing. The stone structure was exactly that of the countless others that covered the chamber the the Moon spoke to him within his mind; symbols and all.

Itachi stare up in awe at the structure as it continued to rise and rise. It was exactly as his leader had described, down to the very minute textures of the stone the object was made from.

Another pillar, exactly the same as the first, burst forth from the nothingness and continued to rise along with the previous stone object. Not long after, another appeared, and another, and another. The strange obelisks even started to appear at different angles; all the same size and color.

Something inside Itachi told him to run. To get as far away from the structures as possible and to leave this distorted realm as quickly as possible. Yet, at the same time, the pillars seemed to talk to him. Whispered in his ear like a gentle lover.

But, the words that he heard did not match the voice. The words were harsh, demanding, and ordered the young man to do terrible things. All while sounding soft and gentle.

It made Itachi feel that much more uneasy.

Naruto had his own voices to worry about.

 **"What a delightful gift my prophet has brought to me."** The legion of the Moon spoke in the youth's head. It's infinite voices gave a pleased tone. **"The beginning of my new body; the first part of the vessel."**

The symbols covering the endless number of obelisks began to glow and pulsate. A faint hum radiated from each as well.

Itachi's inner voice screamed at him to leave this realm. It begged and begged, yet his body could not will itself to end the technique. His internal screaming got louder and louder as noticed he was slowly being lifted up and off of his feet. He had to end the technique, or else he was going to die. It took all the man's mental fortitude to force away the flow of chakra from his eyes.

The effect was immediate.

The world around the two began to melt away and fade into nonexistence. The darkness gave way to the walls of the hotel and the stone structures vanished without a trace.

 **"NO!"** A booming army of voices shouted as the darkness receded. **"I will not be denied my beginning!"** A large fleshy tentacle burst forth from the darkness and quickly wrapped itself around Itachi. An effort by the Moon to keep it's prey from leaving it's domain.

But, even with the entity's desperate struggle, Itachi had already ended the technique and there was nothing it could do as it's own arm melted away with the rest of the realm.

Naruto was the first to realize the change back into reality and quickly pushed himself away from Itachi while making sure to slip past the shark-like dude without getting hit by his massive sword.

At the same time, Sasuke finally charged at his elder brother; chakra infused hand ready to rip right through the older man's heart. The boy did not see anything else but his target.

Not the old man that tried to reach out to stop him. And not his teammate who was forced to get out of the way lest he be ran through just as the other Uchiha was to be.

Said older sibling snapped out of his nightmare induced daze long enough to notice his little brother's attack, and promptly counter the attack by grabbing the boy's wrist right before it reached it's target.

Sasuke was in such a state of shock at his older brother easily preventing his most powerful attack from doing any sort of damage, that he lost all focus and the electricity coursing around his hand quickly vanished without a trace.

"I said I did not have time for you." Itachi snapped while glaring down at his foolish younger brother. He quickly tightened his grip to the point where a nasty snap echoed out from Sasuke's wrist.

The boy gave a shout of pain before Itachi raised him up by the same wrist until they were both at eye level.

"How pathetic." His expression was blank as he stared his brother in the eye. Sasuke was in too much pain to properly reply beyond grunts of pain.

"To think that you call yourself an Uchiha. What a shame." He took his other hand, gripped Sasuke's throat, and pinned the youth into the nearby wall.

"Hey now." Itachi's fish-face compatriot suddenly spoke up. The man had quickly snagged Naruto by the scruff of his jacket and was now using him as a hostage to prevent Jiraiya from any sort of retaliation.

"Another Uchiha could do us some good."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the man before turning his attention back to his brother. He dropped the boy unceremoniously before taking a step back and looking down at him. A thousand thoughts raced through the older Uchiha's head as he thought about his next action.

"You are much too weak to be of any use." Itachi stated coldly. "I'll let you live for now. Once you become strong enough, then I will consider you as something worth my time."

He returned his attention to the slowly backing away fish-man. "We got what we came for. Let us leave." With a halfhearted toss, Itachi sent an explosive tag flying through the air and towards the end of the hallway.

The explosion easily decimated both the flesh coating the wall and the structure itself; leaving an easy escape route for the rouge ninja and their young cargo.

Whatever plan of escape they may have had thought up, however, were quickly dashed when the wall next them exploded as well. Shards of torn wood flew around them as an undying monster tore itself right through the building.

Itachi was forced to push his heels back and make himself trip backwards to avoid a nasty-looking blade from cleaving him in two; vertically. Said weapon belonged to non other than the vile Hunter.

The creature had easily tracked down it's creator and had decided that going through the nearest wall as a lot easier than walking all the way around a room.

The blade firmly planted itself right between his legs and was able to snag his robe. The monster yanked the man forward while brandishing it's other bladed limb, only to have it suddenly come flying off as the fish-man swung his own massive weapon at the creature. The arm pinning down the still living human had also found itself separated from it's host's body.

Itachi was able to tear himself away from the floor and quickly get back to his feet.

Naruto took the opportunity to slash at the arm holding him with his clawed hand; forcing the bulky man to release the youth. Naruto quickly dashed forward towards Jiraiya and away from his would-be kidnappers.

Seeing their opportunity lost, both cloaked figures made a hard leap out of the destroyed wall with Jiraiya quickly giving chase. Or, he would have if Itachi had not turned around mid-flight and summoned a wall of black fire right over the make-shift exit.

The old man gave a snarl of frustration before sighing heavily at the pair's escape and pulling out a small scroll from within his vest. Jiraiya went about both, dispelling his own technique on the area, as well as writing up a seal to to banish away the wicked flames that were starting to encroach further into the building.

Sasuke slowly rose to his feet, holding his broken wrist in his hand. The damage to his pride hurt so much more than any damage to his bones. He stared forward for a moment before forcing his face into a sharp scowl.

Weak! He was still weak! Even after all of that training and hard work; Sasuke was still too weak to even be considered a threat to his murderous brother.

He grit his teeth as the pain from his wrist jolted him out of his thoughts; at least temporarily. He risked a glance over at Naruto, who was preoccupied reattaching the severed limbs to his giant monster.

He simply placed the part were they were meant to be, and they reattached almost instantly with only a small amount of foul smelling organic liquid spilling from the gap.

If only his other creations could heal like this one. If only he could remember how this monster was even made.

Sasuke's glare had shifted completely onto the brain-dead blond youth. That twisted hand and the way he interacted with those ungodly abominations was simply unnatural and wrong in every sense of the word.

Worse still, now not only were the most legendary shinobi alive fawning over the freak, but his own brother considered Naruto more worth his time than his own flesh and blood. That thought alone made the young Uchiha's blood boil.

How could this freak, that had never even met his brother, be considered important enough for Itachi to risk kidnapping him from two of the most powerful ninja alive?! The moron only had a disgusting bloodline.

No talent. No skill. No smarts. There was absolutely no reason that Itachi should pay the idiot any attention at all. Yet, he had his and everyone else's'!

All because he was just some terrifying freak of nature!

Sasuke wanted to lash out at the other boy so badly; but refrained from doing so knowing that he would not survive the encounter. He instead opted to just leave and head back home.

This whole little event was a waste of time and he did not need to waste anymore with this useless lot. He took his leave without saying anything.

After just a few moments later, Jiraiya had successfully sealed away the dark flames and was working on another scroll. No real clue what it was he was actually working on, but it was probably important. Maybe.

Naruto's undead savior gave it's master a once over before leaving the building. Where is was off to was anybody's guess.

"So, I guess those two were from those groups I was warned about?" Naruto asked while looking over Jiraiya's shoulder. The kid was unable to make heads or tails of what the old man was doing.

"Yeah." The old man confirmed in a tone that told the youth that he was not really paying him any attention.

"What are you working on?"

"Something that we may need in the future." Jiraiya stated just as he finished with the last brush stroke. "There." He held up the scroll to observe his work before quickly rolling it up and stashing it away before Naruto could properly see.

"Oh my!" A soft voice spoke from the other end of the hall. The two males turned to see Lady Orochimaru staring at all the damage done to this single hall. "I heard the owners complaining about the noise, but I never figured leaving you two alone would cause this much trouble."

"Just a little scuffle." Jiraiya was quick to explain. "Nothing you need to worry your beautiful mind with."

"Good." The woman said shortly. "I found Lady Tsunade."


End file.
